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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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
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: pitch · mine · perch · ground · last · craft · content · branch

  1. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  4. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  22. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. perch — the fish
  3. pitch — completely
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. ground — the earth
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. craft — a skill
  8. content — the amount
  9. branch — a division
  10. last — final
  11. craft — a handicraft
  12. mine — for digging
  13. content — happy
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. last — finally
  16. ground — a position
  17. ground — crushed
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. craft — boats
  22. branch — of a tree
  23. last — to go on
  24. pitch — a sports field

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