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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. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  3. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  4. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  5. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. We're on a ________________ here.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. toast — bread
  3. roll — a cake
  4. branch — a division
  5. toast — the most admired
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. march — the month
  8. spell — a short time
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. roll — a list
  11. spell — magic
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. band — a ring
  14. field — a subject
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. field — for sport
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. spell — letters
  20. march — the month
  21. march — music
  22. roll — on a roll
  23. field — farmland
  24. toast — a drink to someone

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