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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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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: cue · cell · branch · bound · race · rest · mate · hand

  1. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. That was ________________ to happen.
  12. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  13. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  16. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  17. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  18. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  19. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  20. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. hand — in cards
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. cell — a phone
  5. race — humankind
  6. race — the arms race
  7. cue — for pool
  8. race — a contest
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. hand — help
  11. bound — certain
  12. mate — a friend
  13. cue — a signal
  14. bound — obliged
  15. mate — to breed
  16. rest — what's left
  17. cue — a hint
  18. rest — what's left
  19. rest — a break
  20. bound — tied together
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. branch — of a tree
  23. cell — in biology
  24. branch — a division

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