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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: rash · last · key · spring · clip · current · chest · branch

  1. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  19. This piece is in a major ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — a division
  2. last — final
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. current — happening now
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. chest — of your body
  7. clip — a video
  8. spring — the season
  9. key — for a lock
  10. spring — of water
  11. rash — a series
  12. current — of water
  13. last — finally
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. clip — for paper
  16. rash — hasty
  17. chest — a box
  18. current — electric
  19. key — in music
  20. clip — to cut
  21. spring — a coil
  22. last — to go on
  23. key — the most important part
  24. chest — of your body

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