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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. tear — from crying
  3. branch — of a tree
  4. net — for catching
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. net — after costs
  8. net — in sport
  9. kid — to tease
  10. last — to go on
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. sharp — clever
  13. tear — to rip
  14. kid — child
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. last — final
  17. tear — from crying
  18. 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