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

  1. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  2. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  22. We're almost out of ________________.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. You don't need to ________________ round.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — a division
  2. track — a path
  3. spell — letters
  4. cap — a lid
  5. march — the month
  6. march — music
  7. kid — child
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. pop — music
  10. cap — of ice
  11. spell — magic
  12. spell — a short time
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. cap — a hat
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. march — the month
  19. track — a song
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. track — to keep track
  22. pop — soda
  23. kid — to tease
  24. pop — to visit

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