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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: cold · row · branch · arm · bass · season · march · spring

  1. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  8. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. My father caught me by the ________________.
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  18. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  21. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — of a tree
  2. spring — the season
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. march — the month
  5. branch — a division
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. bass — the fish
  8. bass — the instrument
  9. row — a line
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. row — to paddle
  14. spring — of water
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. march — music
  17. bass — low music
  18. season — in sport
  19. spring — a coil
  20. season — of the year
  21. arm — a part of something
  22. cold — an illness
  23. cold — not warm
  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