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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: branch · cold · bat · fall · firm · file · mate · lean

  1. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. mate — a friend
  3. cold — not warm
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. fall — to drop
  6. firm — decided
  7. fall — to drop
  8. file — a tool
  9. file — a document
  10. file — a line of people
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. lean — to rest against
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. firm — steady
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. firm — a company
  17. cold — an illness
  18. mate — to breed
  19. branch — a division
  20. lean — to bend
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. lean — thin
  23. bat — the animal
  24. fall — the season

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