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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 116 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: rest · trunk · snap · branch · row · board · spell · tear

  1. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  5. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  22. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to snap out of it
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. spell — letters
  4. trunk — of a tree
  5. branch — of a tree
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. snap — to click
  8. spell — magic
  9. board — to get on
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. tear — to rip
  12. rest — a break
  13. tear — from crying
  14. tear — from crying
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. branch — a division
  17. board — a flat piece
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. row — to paddle
  20. spell — a short time
  21. board — a committee
  22. rest — what's left
  23. row — a line
  24. rest — what's left

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