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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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Word bank
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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: season · branch · plane · march · mine · roll · bore · court

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. Did you ________________ the meat?
  6. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  7. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  16. The ________________ took off on time.
  17. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  18. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. We're on a ________________ here.
  21. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. plane — in geometry
  3. march — the month
  4. court — of law
  5. season — to add flavour
  6. season — of the year
  7. roll — a list
  8. season — in sport
  9. march — music
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. mine — for digging
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. court — of a king
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. plane — a tool
  16. plane — an aircraft
  17. bore — to drill
  18. bore — to tire
  19. march — the month
  20. roll — on a roll
  21. roll — a cake
  22. branch — a division
  23. bore — gave birth
  24. branch — of a tree

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