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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: craft · branch · tear · clip · cold · stem

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. branch — a division
  3. craft — a handicraft
  4. cold — not warm
  5. stem — of a plant
  6. tear — to rip
  7. craft — a skill
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. craft — boats
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. stem — to come from
  14. clip — for paper
  15. clip — to cut
  16. tear — from crying
  17. tear — from crying
  18. clip — a video

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