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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: branch · march · rock · season · spring · patient · date · degree

  1. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  5. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. Did you ________________ the meat?
  9. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  12. Have you settled on a ________________?
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  17. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. rock — music
  3. march — music
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. rock — a stone
  6. spring — the season
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. season — to add flavour
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. branch — a division
  11. patient — calm and waiting
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. march — the month
  14. march — the month
  15. degree — an amount
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. season — in sport
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. spring — of water
  20. rock — to move gently
  21. degree — temperature
  22. degree — from a university
  23. spring — a coil
  24. date — the fruit

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