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

  1. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  8. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  20. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. branch — of a tree
  3. band — a ring
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. pitch — completely
  9. branch — a division
  10. wound — an injury
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. march — music
  14. wound — an injury
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. pitch — a sports field
  18. game — a match
  19. patient — calm and waiting
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. march — the month
  22. band — a music group
  23. kick — in football
  24. game — wild animals

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