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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: last · tear · hand · branch · mate · deal · roll · fan

  1. False peace will not ________________.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  10. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  18. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. We're on a ________________ here.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  24. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. hand — help
  3. mate — a partner
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. mate — a friend
  6. hand — in cards
  7. deal — to handle
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. fan — to cool the air
  10. deal — an agreement
  11. last — finally
  12. tear — to rip
  13. deal — a big deal
  14. mate — to breed
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. tear — from crying
  17. roll — a cake
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. last — final
  21. roll — on a roll
  22. tear — from crying
  23. branch — a division
  24. roll — a list

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