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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: foot · branch · pitcher · staff · last · march · bulb · cold

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  5. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  8. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. I've got to change the light ________________.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. The light ________________ burned out.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  23. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. foot — a measure
  5. foot — the bottom
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. bulb — of a plant
  8. foot — part of the body
  9. last — final
  10. branch — a division
  11. staff — a stick
  12. march — the month
  13. bulb — for light
  14. last — finally
  15. cold — an illness
  16. bulb — for light
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. march — music
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. last — to go on
  21. march — the month
  22. staff — employees
  23. staff — employees
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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