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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: march · row · swing · press · branch · kick

  1. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  17. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  18. Did you ________________ the button?

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. march — the month
  3. march — the month
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. swing — to play on
  6. row — a line
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. row — to paddle
  10. swing — music
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. march — music
  13. swing — in golf
  14. branch — a division
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. kick — in football
  17. press — newspapers
  18. press — to push

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