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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: land · pop · craft · season · bat · hand · mate · branch

  1. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  4. We're almost out of ________________.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  7. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  12. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  13. Have you found your soul ________________?
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. You don't need to ________________ round.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?

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

Answer key

  1. pop — music
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. craft — boats
  4. pop — soda
  5. land — a country
  6. craft — a handicraft
  7. craft — a skill
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. land — ground
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. season — in sport
  12. mate — to breed
  13. mate — a partner
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. pop — to visit
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. season — of the year
  18. branch — a division
  19. hand — help
  20. land — to come down
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. bat — the animal
  23. hand — in cards
  24. mate — a friend

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