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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: bat · root · fall · branch · band · hide · march · wound

  1. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  15. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. bat — the animal
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. march — music
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. march — the month
  8. fall — to drop
  9. march — the month
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. root — of a plant
  13. fall — to drop
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. root — of a word
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. wound — an injury
  18. wound — an injury
  19. root — the cause
  20. band — a ring
  21. fall — the season
  22. branch — a division
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. hide — animal skin

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