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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. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. The King held a masked ________________.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. ball — a dance
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. branch — a division
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. band — a ring
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. spell — magic
  9. march — the month
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. stick — to attach or keep to
  12. chair — a leader
  13. spell — letters
  14. ball — a great time
  15. spell — a short time
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. stick — a piece of wood
  18. cold — an illness
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. cold — not warm
  21. band — a music group
  22. march — the month
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. band — a rubber band

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