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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. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  2. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  13. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.

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

Answer key

  1. can — a tin
  2. can — a tin
  3. spring — of water
  4. march — the month
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. rash — a series
  7. branch — a division
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. root — the cause
  11. march — the month
  12. can — to be able to
  13. bass — low music
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. rash — hasty
  16. spring — a coil
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. spring — the season
  19. bat — the animal
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. march — music
  22. root — of a word
  23. bass — the fish
  24. root — of a plant

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