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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. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  11. What do you think of the new ________________?
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  23. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  24. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — bread
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. toast — a drink to someone
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. toast — the most admired
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. march — the month
  13. degree — temperature
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. degree — from a university
  17. branch — a division
  18. degree — an amount
  19. leaves — of a tree
  20. march — music
  21. march — the month
  22. leaves — to go away
  23. cabinet — a cupboard
  24. leaves — lets stay

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