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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 116 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 · bat · wound · court · file · cell · dip · branch

  1. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. branch — a division
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. cell — in biology
  7. court — for sport
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. bat — the animal
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. row — to paddle
  12. dip — to sink
  13. file — a document
  14. dip — a sauce
  15. file — a tool
  16. wound — an injury
  17. court — of a king
  18. cell — a phone
  19. wound — an injury
  20. file — a line of people
  21. row — a line
  22. court — of law
  23. dip — to dunk
  24. branch — of a tree

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