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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: branch · capital · row · march · wound · stick · toast · spring

  1. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  13. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. spring — the season
  3. toast — a drink to someone
  4. spring — a coil
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. toast — the most admired
  8. march — music
  9. row — to paddle
  10. wound — an injury
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. stick — to attach or keep to
  14. row — a line
  15. spring — of water
  16. branch — a division
  17. capital — a city
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. wound — an injury
  20. march — the month
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. toast — bread
  24. capital — money

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