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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 120 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: branch · craft · board · staff · spell · mine · march · cold

  1. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  2. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  16. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  24. ________________ games are popular in Germany.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. branch — of a tree
  3. spell — letters
  4. spell — a short time
  5. staff — employees
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. march — the month
  8. branch — a division
  9. board — to get on
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. board — a committee
  12. march — the month
  13. craft — boats
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. craft — a handicraft
  16. staff — a stick
  17. march — music
  18. cold — an illness
  19. spell — magic
  20. mine — for digging
  21. cold — not warm
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. craft — a skill
  24. board — a flat piece

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