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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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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: tear · swing · branch · cap · wind · bat · mate · fork

  1. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  4. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  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. tear — to rip
  2. mate — a partner
  3. branch — of a bank
  4. mate — to breed
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. bat — the animal
  7. mate — a friend
  8. swing — to play on
  9. cap — a hat
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. branch — a division
  12. swing — in golf
  13. swing — music
  14. tear — from crying
  15. wind — moving air
  16. fork — in a road
  17. cap — a lid
  18. tear — from crying
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. cap — of ice
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. wind — moving air
  23. bat — in an idiom
  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