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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 116 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: fall · scale · bat · game · lean · branch · band · chair

  1. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. bat — the animal
  4. scale — size or range
  5. fall — to drop
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. lean — to bend
  9. game — a match
  10. band — a music group
  11. band — a ring
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. lean — thin
  16. scale — in music
  17. lean — to rest against
  18. fall — the season
  19. chair — a leader
  20. branch — a division
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. fall — to drop
  24. band — a rubber band

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