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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: perch · branch · last · ground · wound · craft · pop · press

  1. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  20. We're almost out of ________________.
  21. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  24. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. branch — a division
  3. last — finally
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. press — to push
  6. pop — music
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. pop — to visit
  9. craft — a skill
  10. last — to go on
  11. ground — a position
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. last — final
  15. wound — an injury
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. ground — the earth
  18. wound — an injury
  19. perch — the fish
  20. pop — soda
  21. craft — boats
  22. press — newspapers
  23. craft — a handicraft
  24. press — a publisher

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