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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  15. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. bear — the animal
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. branch — a division
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. march — the month
  8. race — a contest
  9. race — the arms race
  10. march — music
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. craft — a skill
  13. march — the month
  14. craft — boats
  15. bear — to put up with
  16. hand — in cards
  17. hand — help
  18. prune — to trim
  19. bear — the animal
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. race — humankind
  22. prune — to trim
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. craft — a handicraft

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