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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. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  15. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  21. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. spell — letters
  3. ruler — a monarch
  4. spell — a short time
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. row — a line
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. spring — a coil
  12. spring — the season
  13. spring — of water
  14. ruler — for measuring
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. spell — magic
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. mine — for digging
  19. march — the month
  20. branch — a division
  21. ruler — for measuring
  22. march — the month
  23. racket — a loud noise
  24. row — to paddle

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