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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 · chip · branch · present · fork · race · wound · bat

  1. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  18. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  21. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. present — there
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. wound — an injury
  6. last — to go on
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. last — finally
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. branch — a division
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. fork — in a road
  14. bat — the animal
  15. present — the time now
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. present — a gift
  18. chip — for betting
  19. race — the arms race
  20. chip — to eat
  21. chip — in a computer
  22. last — final
  23. race — humankind
  24. race — a contest

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