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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: firm · branch · row · coach · rash · last · toast · clip

  1. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  2. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  3. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. Don't do anything ________________.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — the most admired
  2. rash — a series
  3. firm — a company
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. firm — steady
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. branch — a division
  11. firm — decided
  12. last — to go on
  13. last — final
  14. clip — to cut
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. row — a line
  17. rash — hasty
  18. clip — for paper
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. toast — bread
  21. clip — a video
  22. row — to paddle
  23. toast — a drink to someone
  24. last — finally

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