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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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  4. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  7. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  8. Did you ________________ the meat?
  9. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  24. The ________________ market has crashed.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. file — a tool
  3. season — in sport
  4. deal — to handle
  5. file — a line of people
  6. deal — an agreement
  7. branch — of a tree
  8. season — to add flavour
  9. present — there
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. stock — goods
  13. present — the time now
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. season — of the year
  16. file — a document
  17. cold — not warm
  18. branch — a division
  19. deal — a big deal
  20. march — the month
  21. cold — an illness
  22. march — music
  23. present — a gift
  24. stock — shares

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