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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  6. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. chest — a box
  3. branch — of a bank
  4. track — a song
  5. lean — thin
  6. scale — size or range
  7. branch — a division
  8. track — a path
  9. chest — of your body
  10. march — music
  11. scale — in music
  12. track — to keep track
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. chest — of your body
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. march — the month
  18. march — the month

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