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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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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: sharp · pound · march · bay · tube · branch · shower · hand

  1. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. My mare is ________________ in color.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  13. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  18. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. branch — a division
  3. tube — the underground
  4. march — the month
  5. bay — a horse colour
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. pound — for dogs
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. hand — help
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. pound — a weight
  13. bay — to keep at bay
  14. hand — in cards
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. bay — a part of the sea
  18. tube — in a tire
  19. tube — a container
  20. shower — rain
  21. march — the month
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. sharp — clever
  24. shower — to wash

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