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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: date · key · deal · wake · straw · branch · bat · march

  1. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  2. This piece is in a major ________________.
  3. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. Have you settled on a ________________?
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  14. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  15. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — a big deal
  2. key — in music
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. deal — to handle
  8. march — the month
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. wake — a trail
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. branch — a division
  13. deal — an agreement
  14. key — the most important part
  15. key — for a lock
  16. march — music
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. bat — the animal
  21. march — the month
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. date — the fruit
  24. bat — for baseball

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