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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: bulb · scale · game · bat · march · ground · branch · dip

  1. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  5. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  6. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  7. I've got to change the light ________________.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. The light ________________ burned out.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — of a plant
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. ground — crushed
  4. branch — a division
  5. branch — of a tree
  6. scale — size or range
  7. bulb — for light
  8. game — a match
  9. march — music
  10. dip — a sauce
  11. ground — the earth
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. dip — to sink
  14. ground — a position
  15. scale — in music
  16. game — wild animals
  17. march — the month
  18. march — the month
  19. dip — to dunk
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. bulb — for light
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. bat — the animal
  24. bat — for baseball

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