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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: last · bound · straw · spring · ball · march · sharp · branch

  1. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. That was ________________ to happen.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. The King held a masked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. last — final
  4. march — the month
  5. sharp — clever
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. spring — of water
  8. bound — tied together
  9. last — to go on
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. bound — certain
  12. spring — a coil
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. branch — a division
  15. bound — obliged
  16. last — finally
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. ball — a great time
  22. spring — the season
  23. march — the month
  24. ball — a dance

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