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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: branch · board · roll · tear · band · race · net · fork

  1. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  24. We're on a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. band — a ring
  3. net — after costs
  4. net — for catching
  5. tear — from crying
  6. board — a flat piece
  7. branch — a division
  8. roll — a list
  9. tear — from crying
  10. race — the arms race
  11. tear — to rip
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. band — a music group
  15. board — to get on
  16. race — a contest
  17. board — a committee
  18. fork — in a road
  19. race — humankind
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. net — in sport
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. roll — a cake
  24. roll — on a roll

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