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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: bat · march · club · bay · straw · toast · branch · rash

  1. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  4. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  5. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. My mare is ________________ in color.
  12. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  17. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  18. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. club — for dancing
  3. club — a group
  4. bay — a part of the sea
  5. rash — on the skin
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. toast — bread
  8. march — music
  9. club — for golf
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. bay — a horse colour
  12. bay — to keep at bay
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. rash — a series
  16. toast — a drink to someone
  17. branch — a division
  18. toast — the most admired
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. march — the month
  22. bat — the animal
  23. march — the month
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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