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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: club · last · bank · bass · branch · pitcher · march · spring

  1. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  12. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  20. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  21. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the fish
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. last — final
  4. last — to go on
  5. spring — the season
  6. bass — the instrument
  7. last — finally
  8. branch — a division
  9. spring — a coil
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. bank — for money
  12. bank — of a river
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. spring — of water
  16. club — a group
  17. march — music
  18. march — the month
  19. club — for golf
  20. club — for dancing
  21. bank — for money
  22. march — the month
  23. bass — low music
  24. branch — of a bank

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