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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: branch · tear · last · march · perch · key · chip · wound

  1. False peace will not ________________.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  4. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  10. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. This piece is in a major ________________.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. last — finally
  3. chip — to eat
  4. branch — a division
  5. tear — from crying
  6. key — for a lock
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. perch — the fish
  10. chip — in a computer
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. wound — an injury
  13. tear — from crying
  14. key — in music
  15. wound — an injury
  16. march — the month
  17. tear — to rip
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. march — the month
  20. key — the most important part
  21. last — final
  22. chip — for betting
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. march — 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