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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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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: cold · band · perch · lie · toast · branch · board · bear

  1. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  2. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  3. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  11. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  19. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  20. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  24. ________________ games are popular in Germany.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — a division
  2. branch — of a tree
  3. board — to get on
  4. band — a music group
  5. toast — a drink to someone
  6. band — a ring
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. lie — to recline
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. toast — the most admired
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. toast — bread
  14. cold — not warm
  15. bear — to put up with
  16. cold — an illness
  17. perch — the fish
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. bear — the animal
  20. bear — the animal
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. board — a committee
  24. board — a flat piece

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