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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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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: pit · cell · tear · branch · wind · rush · bowl · pound

  1. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  18. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  23. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  24. That must've been a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — to hurry
  2. wind — moving air
  3. tear — to rip
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. tear — from crying
  6. bowl — a dish
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. bowl — a football final
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. branch — a division
  11. pound — a weight
  12. pit — a fruit stone
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. cell — a phone
  15. cell — in biology
  16. tear — from crying
  17. bowl — to roll
  18. pit — a hole
  19. wind — moving air
  20. pit — in a race
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. rush — hurry
  23. pound — to hit hard
  24. rush — a thrill

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