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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: mug · march · bowl · file · chair · branch · tear · court

  1. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  6. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  7. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  15. Where did you ________________ them?
  16. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. file — a tool
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. tear — from crying
  5. branch — of a tree
  6. mug — a face
  7. mug — a cup
  8. march — the month
  9. court — of law
  10. bowl — to roll
  11. court — for sport
  12. file — a document
  13. march — the month
  14. bowl — a football final
  15. mug — to rob
  16. bowl — a dish
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. chair — a leader
  19. tear — to rip
  20. march — music
  21. court — of a king
  22. branch — a division
  23. tear — from crying
  24. file — a line of people

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com