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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. David sat on the ________________.
  2. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  14. Have you found your soul ________________?
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. root — of a word
  3. march — the month
  4. fall — to drop
  5. march — music
  6. tear — to rip
  7. root — of a plant
  8. branch — a division
  9. tear — from crying
  10. root — the cause
  11. bat — the animal
  12. fall — to drop
  13. mate — a friend
  14. mate — a partner
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. mate — to breed
  19. swing — in golf
  20. swing — music
  21. fall — the season
  22. march — the month
  23. tear — from crying
  24. branch — of a tree

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