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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. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  2. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  22. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — of a tree
  2. branch — a division
  3. bat — the animal
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. chip — to eat
  6. sharp — clever
  7. march — the month
  8. race — a contest
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. chip — in a computer
  12. race — the arms race
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. march — the month
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. drill — army training
  17. racket — a loud noise
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. race — humankind
  20. drill — the tool
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. chip — for betting
  23. march — music
  24. drill — a practice

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