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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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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: straw · race · content · lean · racket · branch · tear · craft

  1. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  2. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  15. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  20. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  21. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. race — humankind
  2. craft — a skill
  3. content — happy
  4. tear — to rip
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. race — the arms race
  7. craft — boats
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. lean — to bend
  12. tear — from crying
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. lean — thin
  15. racket — a loud noise
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. race — a contest
  18. content — the amount
  19. lean — to rest against
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. craft — a handicraft
  22. branch — a division
  23. tear — from crying
  24. branch — of a tree

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