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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 116 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. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  5. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  8. We're almost out of ________________.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. march — the month
  3. march — the month
  4. lash — a whip stroke
  5. branch — of a tree
  6. branch — a division
  7. lash — an eyelash
  8. pop — soda
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. deal — a big deal
  11. cell — in biology
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. pop — music
  15. cell — a phone
  16. lash — to lash out
  17. row — a line
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. march — music
  20. deal — an agreement
  21. row — to paddle
  22. bat — the animal
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. deal — to handle

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