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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: net · branch · march · stem · last · staff · saw · wind

  1. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. He works in a ________________ mill.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. net — after costs
  3. stem — a stem cell
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. wind — moving air
  6. branch — a division
  7. staff — employees
  8. march — the month
  9. net — for catching
  10. staff — a stick
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. last — final
  13. stem — to come from
  14. saw — the tool
  15. net — in sport
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. last — to go on
  19. march — the month
  20. last — finally
  21. saw — the tool
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. march — music
  24. wind — moving air

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