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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: bass · march · branch · shower · swing · arm · roll · saw

  1. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  2. My father caught me by the ________________.
  3. She's very handy with a ________________.
  4. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  5. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  14. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. We're on a ________________ here.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. He works in a ________________ mill.
  20. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a cake
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. saw — the tool
  4. arm — a part of something
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. bass — the fish
  8. swing — in golf
  9. bass — the instrument
  10. swing — music
  11. swing — to play on
  12. march — the month
  13. branch — of a bank
  14. bass — low music
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. shower — to wash
  17. roll — on a roll
  18. branch — a division
  19. saw — the tool
  20. saw — past of 'see'
  21. shower — rain
  22. march — music
  23. roll — a list
  24. march — the month

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