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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: snap · branch · lean · wound · dip · court · toast · spell

  1. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  2. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — bread
  2. dip — to dunk
  3. wound — an injury
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. branch — of a tree
  6. spell — letters
  7. lean — to bend
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. wound — an injury
  10. toast — the most admired
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. dip — to sink
  13. snap — to click
  14. toast — a drink to someone
  15. court — of a king
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. court — for sport
  19. spell — magic
  20. dip — a sauce
  21. spell — a short time
  22. lean — thin
  23. court — of law
  24. branch — a division

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