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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. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  9. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  10. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — a division
  2. spring — a coil
  3. staff — employees
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. sharp — clever
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. staff — a stick
  9. craft — boats
  10. staff — employees
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. craft — a skill
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. spring — of water
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. perch — the fish
  18. spring — the season
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. craft — a handicraft
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. wake — a trail
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. sharp — with an edge

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