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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: spring · march · mine · branch · perch · hand · band · bulb

  1. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. The light ________________ burned out.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. I've got to change the light ________________.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — of a plant
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. march — the month
  4. march — music
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. spring — the season
  7. march — the month
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. hand — in cards
  10. spring — a coil
  11. band — a music group
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. bulb — for light
  14. mine — for digging
  15. bulb — for light
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. perch — the fish
  19. branch — a division
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. hand — help
  22. band — a ring
  23. branch — of a bank
  24. spring — of water

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