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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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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 · club · can · spell · craft · cold · bass · hand

  1. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  4. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  5. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  6. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  10. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  22. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  23. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. bass — the fish
  3. can — to be able to
  4. can — a tin
  5. craft — boats
  6. bass — the instrument
  7. hand — help
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. can — a tin
  10. craft — a skill
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. spell — letters
  13. spell — a short time
  14. cold — an illness
  15. cold — not warm
  16. club — for dancing
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. hand — in cards
  19. club — a group
  20. spell — magic
  21. branch — a division
  22. craft — a handicraft
  23. bass — low music
  24. cold — the Cold War

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