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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: perch · band · last · land · branch · bat · mark · craft

  1. When are we going to ________________?
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  8. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  20. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  21. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. last — to go on
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. craft — a skill
  6. branch — a division
  7. mark — to pay attention
  8. mark — a trace
  9. band — a music group
  10. land — ground
  11. band — a ring
  12. last — finally
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. bat — the animal
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. last — final
  19. craft — a handicraft
  20. craft — boats
  21. mark — a grade
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. perch — the fish
  24. land — a country

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