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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: perch · sharp · band · branch · date · capital · wake · season

  1. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. Have you settled on a ________________?
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. band — a ring
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. wake — before a funeral
  6. sharp — clever
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. branch — a division
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. capital — money
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. wake — a trail
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. date — the fruit
  17. perch — the fish
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. season — in sport
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. capital — a city
  22. season — of the year
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. band — a music group

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