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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 120 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: shower · march · tube · mine · season · last · branch · arm

  1. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  19. My father caught me by the ________________.
  20. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. march — the month
  3. branch — a division
  4. mine — for digging
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. arm — a part of something
  8. shower — rain
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. march — music
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. tube — the underground
  13. shower — to wash
  14. tube — in a tire
  15. tube — a container
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. last — to go on
  18. season — in sport
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. march — the month
  22. last — final
  23. season — of the year
  24. last — finally

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