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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 120 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. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  2. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  17. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — of a bank
  2. track — to keep track
  3. last — final
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. track — a song
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. cell — in biology
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. spell — magic
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. spell — letters
  13. game — a match
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. spell — a short time
  16. season — in sport
  17. branch — a division
  18. last — to go on
  19. last — finally
  20. track — a path
  21. game — wild animals
  22. cell — a phone
  23. season — of the year
  24. straw — a straw man

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