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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: march · branch · file · spell · drill · stock · mark · bass

  1. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — a division
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. bass — low music
  4. march — music
  5. file — a document
  6. mark — a trace
  7. stock — shares
  8. bass — the instrument
  9. spell — letters
  10. mark — a grade
  11. march — the month
  12. march — the month
  13. spell — magic
  14. file — a tool
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. drill — army training
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. drill — a practice
  19. file — a line of people
  20. drill — the tool
  21. stock — goods
  22. mark — to pay attention
  23. spell — a short time
  24. bass — the fish

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