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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: scale · file · rest · bowl · cell · fall · pit · branch

  1. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  18. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  21. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  24. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. cell — a phone
  3. pit — a hole
  4. fall — to drop
  5. rest — a break
  6. fall — to drop
  7. file — a document
  8. file — a line of people
  9. scale — in music
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. scale — size or range
  12. bowl — to roll
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. branch — a division
  15. file — a tool
  16. fall — the season
  17. pit — in a race
  18. pit — a fruit stone
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. bowl — a football final
  21. rest — what's left
  22. cell — in biology
  23. branch — of a bank
  24. rest — what's left

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