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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: saw · sharp · branch · march · stem · bat · present · wound

  1. She's very handy with a ________________.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. He works in a ________________ mill.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. stem — to come from
  3. branch — a division
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. saw — past of 'see'
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. wound — an injury
  9. stem — of a plant
  10. sharp — clever
  11. present — a gift
  12. present — there
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. saw — the tool
  17. march — the month
  18. bat — the animal
  19. stem — a stem cell
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. march — music
  22. march — the month
  23. wound — an injury
  24. present — the time now

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