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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 116 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: branch · bound · march · press · ground · content · row · staff

  1. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  6. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  7. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. That was ________________ to happen.
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. Did you ________________ the button?
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. staff — a stick
  3. content — happy
  4. ground — crushed
  5. bound — obliged
  6. staff — employees
  7. staff — employees
  8. ground — the earth
  9. row — a line
  10. branch — a division
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. press — a publisher
  13. ground — a position
  14. press — newspapers
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. row — to paddle
  17. march — the month
  18. bound — certain
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. bound — tied together
  21. march — the month
  22. press — to push
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. content — the amount

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