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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. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  2. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  14. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — of a tree
  2. root — of a word
  3. march — the month
  4. march — the month
  5. spell — letters
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. spell — magic
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. lash — to lash out
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. scale — in music
  13. root — of a plant
  14. lash — a whip stroke
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. spell — a short time
  17. cold — an illness
  18. march — music
  19. branch — a division
  20. cold — not warm
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. scale — size or range
  23. lash — an eyelash
  24. root — the cause

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