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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: roll · tear · scale · branch · trunk · sharp · spell · plane

  1. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. The ________________ took off on time.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  16. We're on a ________________ here.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  19. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. tear — from crying
  3. branch — of a tree
  4. spell — magic
  5. spell — letters
  6. tear — to rip
  7. tear — from crying
  8. scale — size or range
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. spell — a short time
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. plane — an aircraft
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. branch — a division
  15. roll — a list
  16. roll — on a roll
  17. sharp — clever
  18. roll — a cake
  19. plane — a tool
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. trunk — of an elephant
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. plane — in geometry
  24. scale — in music

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