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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 124 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: bear · saw · chest · season · sharp · branch

  1. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  8. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. A black ________________ roamed the forest.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. bear — the animal
  3. chest — of your body
  4. bear — to put up with
  5. saw — the tool
  6. chest — a box
  7. branch — of a tree
  8. season — of the year
  9. chest — of your body
  10. season — in sport
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. branch — a division
  13. saw — the tool
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. sharp — clever
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. bear — the animal

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