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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: chair · ruler · game · cell · cold · track · branch · rest

  1. He was locked up in a ________________.
  2. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  3. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  19. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  22. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  23. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  24. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. branch — of a bank
  3. branch — a division
  4. game — wild animals
  5. track — a song
  6. cold — not warm
  7. game — a match
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. cell — in biology
  10. chair — a leader
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. ruler — for measuring
  13. cell — a phone
  14. ruler — for measuring
  15. cold — an illness
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. track — a path
  19. track — to keep track
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. rest — a break
  22. rest — what's left
  23. ruler — a monarch
  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