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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: band · roll · march · prune · rest · chair · date · branch

  1. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  3. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  6. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. Have you settled on a ________________?
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. We're on a ________________ here.
  21. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  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. band — a music group
  2. roll — a list
  3. roll — a cake
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. rest — a break
  7. band — a ring
  8. date — the fruit
  9. prune — to trim
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. prune — to trim
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. branch — of a bank
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. rest — what's left
  16. chair — a leader
  17. march — the month
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. branch — a division
  20. roll — on a roll
  21. branch — of a tree
  22. march — music
  23. rest — what's left
  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