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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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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: bay · craft · chest · branch · last · mark · bear · clip

  1. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  9. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  10. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  16. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  17. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  18. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. My mare is ________________ in color.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — a division
  2. clip — for paper
  3. craft — boats
  4. chest — of your body
  5. bear — the animal
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. chest — a box
  8. craft — a skill
  9. bear — the animal
  10. mark — a grade
  11. last — final
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. bear — to put up with
  14. clip — to cut
  15. mark — a trace
  16. bay — to keep at bay
  17. craft — a handicraft
  18. mark — to pay attention
  19. last — to go on
  20. chest — of your body
  21. bay — a horse colour
  22. clip — a video
  23. bay — a part of the sea
  24. last — finally

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