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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 · bat · fine · row · sharp · game · staff · chest

  1. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  9. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. fine — high quality
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. game — wild animals
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. game — a match
  8. fine — all right
  9. staff — a stick
  10. sharp — clever
  11. chest — of your body
  12. fine — a penalty
  13. row — a line
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. bat — the animal
  18. chest — a box
  19. staff — employees
  20. chest — of your body
  21. staff — employees
  22. row — to paddle
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. branch — a division

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