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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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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: fork · branch · fall · hand · saw · kid · season · bat

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. He works in a ________________ mill.
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. Did you ________________ the meat?
  15. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. saw — the tool
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. branch — a division
  7. fall — to drop
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. kid — to tease
  10. fall — to drop
  11. saw — the tool
  12. season — in sport
  13. fall — the season
  14. season — to add flavour
  15. season — of the year
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. saw — past of 'see'
  21. hand — in cards
  22. kid — child
  23. fork — in a road
  24. hand — help

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