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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: spring · sharp · last · bat · mine · mark · cabinet · branch

  1. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. What do you think of the new ________________?
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. last — final
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. spring — of water
  6. mark — a trace
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. mark — to pay attention
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. last — to go on
  15. mark — a grade
  16. branch — a division
  17. sharp — clever
  18. cabinet — a cupboard
  19. last — finally
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. mine — for digging
  22. bat — the animal
  23. spring — the season
  24. spring — a coil

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