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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: row · staff · date · land · branch · mouse · squash · chest

  1. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  4. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  5. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  6. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. Have you settled on a ________________?
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  24. The old man leaned on his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — of a bank
  2. squash — the sport
  3. staff — employees
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. mouse — for a computer
  7. row — to paddle
  8. chest — of your body
  9. chest — of your body
  10. date — the fruit
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. staff — employees
  13. land — to come down
  14. row — a line
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. chest — a box
  18. branch — a division
  19. land — ground
  20. squash — to crush
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. land — a country
  23. mouse — the animal
  24. staff — a stick

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