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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. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. That was ________________ to happen.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  8. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  9. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  10. Did you ________________ the button?
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  23. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. kid — child
  4. march — the month
  5. bound — certain
  6. cold — not warm
  7. pass — to succeed
  8. bound — obliged
  9. press — newspapers
  10. press — to push
  11. prune — to trim
  12. press — a publisher
  13. kid — to tease
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. prune — to trim
  17. bound — tied together
  18. branch — a division
  19. cold — an illness
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. march — the month
  22. pass — to spend time
  23. pass — a permit
  24. branch — of a bank

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