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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: hand · chest · rash · wax · stock · march · branch · craft

  1. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  13. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. The ________________ market has crashed.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. march — the month
  4. stock — goods
  5. rash — a series
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. branch — a division
  8. wax — to grow
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. hand — help
  11. hand — in cards
  12. craft — a handicraft
  13. craft — a skill
  14. march — music
  15. chest — of your body
  16. rash — hasty
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. chest — a box
  19. stock — shares
  20. chest — of your body
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. craft — boats
  23. rash — on the skin
  24. wax — for sculpting

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