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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. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  24. Don't do anything ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. swing — music
  3. branch — of a tree
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. shower — rain
  7. capital — money
  8. swing — in golf
  9. march — music
  10. swing — to play on
  11. rash — a series
  12. squash — to crush
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. scale — size or range
  15. capital — a city
  16. scale — in music
  17. march — the month
  18. squash — the sport
  19. shower — to wash
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. rash — on the skin
  22. branch — a division
  23. branch — of a bank
  24. rash — hasty

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