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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: straw · club · branch · chip · spring · track · cell · row

  1. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  10. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  11. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  12. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. club — for dancing
  3. chip — in a computer
  4. cell — a phone
  5. branch — a division
  6. row — to paddle
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. track — a path
  10. chip — to eat
  11. track — a song
  12. track — to keep track
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. club — a group
  18. spring — the season
  19. spring — a coil
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. spring — of water
  22. row — a line
  23. chip — for betting
  24. cell — in biology

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