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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 116 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: racket · lie · bat · spell · cap · branch · mate · rest

  1. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  4. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  15. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  20. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  21. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  24. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — a division
  2. mate — a partner
  3. lie — to recline
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. mate — to breed
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. spell — letters
  8. cap — a lid
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. spell — a short time
  12. racket — a loud noise
  13. bat — the animal
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. mate — a friend
  16. cap — of ice
  17. cap — a hat
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. rest — a break
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. rest — what's left
  22. spell — magic
  23. rest — what's left
  24. racket — for tennis

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