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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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. Have you settled on a ________________?
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  6. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  7. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  14. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  20. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  21. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  22. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. prune — to trim
  5. toast — a drink to someone
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. deal — a big deal
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. cold — an illness
  10. march — the month
  11. cold — not warm
  12. branch — a division
  13. date — the fruit
  14. toast — the most admired
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. snap — to click
  19. deal — to handle
  20. prune — to trim
  21. branch — of a tree
  22. toast — bread
  23. march — music
  24. deal — an agreement

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