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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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 · ball · shower · pass · squash · coach · spring · march

  1. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  10. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. The King held a masked ________________.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  16. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. Have you met the new head ________________?
  22. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. spring — of water
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. march — music
  5. pass — a permit
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. spring — a coil
  8. spring — the season
  9. pass — to succeed
  10. coach — pulled by horses
  11. march — the month
  12. squash — the sport
  13. ball — a dance
  14. squash — to crush
  15. ball — a round shape
  16. pass — to spend time
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. branch — a division
  19. shower — rain
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. shower — to wash
  24. march — the month

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