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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: bear · branch · prune · band · capital · chest · march · chair

  1. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. bear — the animal
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. march — the month
  6. chest — of your body
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. chair — a leader
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. march — the month
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. bear — to put up with
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. prune — to trim
  15. band — a music group
  16. chest — a box
  17. chest — of your body
  18. capital — a city
  19. prune — to trim
  20. capital — money
  21. band — a ring
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. bear — the animal
  24. branch — a division

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