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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: branch · bay · squash · pit · march · press · kid · date

  1. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. My mare is ________________ in color.
  9. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. Have you settled on a ________________?
  12. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. Did you ________________ the button?
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  18. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  19. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  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. date — on the calendar
  2. march — the month
  3. squash — the sport
  4. march — music
  5. bay — a part of the sea
  6. branch — a division
  7. squash — to crush
  8. bay — a horse colour
  9. pit — a hole
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. press — newspapers
  13. kid — child
  14. press — to push
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. date — the fruit
  18. press — a publisher
  19. bay — to keep at bay
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. pit — a fruit stone
  22. kid — to tease
  23. pit — in a race
  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