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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. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  2. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  9. That was ________________ to happen.
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  13. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  14. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  18. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. bound — obliged
  3. march — music
  4. march — the month
  5. fork — in a road
  6. cold — not warm
  7. drill — the tool
  8. bank — of a river
  9. bound — certain
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. bank — for money
  13. can — a tin
  14. bound — tied together
  15. march — the month
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. can — a tin
  18. can — to be able to
  19. branch — a division
  20. cold — an illness
  21. drill — a practice
  22. bank — for money
  23. drill — army training
  24. cold — the Cold War

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