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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: branch · press · wake · row · cold · last · chip · craft

  1. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  12. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. Did you ________________ the button?
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. branch — of a tree
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. craft — a skill
  5. row — a line
  6. press — a publisher
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. branch — a division
  9. craft — boats
  10. cold — not warm
  11. chip — to eat
  12. press — newspapers
  13. wake — a trail
  14. craft — a handicraft
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. cold — an illness
  17. last — finally
  18. press — to push
  19. row — to paddle
  20. chip — for betting
  21. last — to go on
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. chip — in a computer
  24. last — final

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