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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: rock · march · bulb · club · clip · sharp · rash · branch

  1. I've got to change the light ________________.
  2. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. The light ________________ burned out.
  19. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  24. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — for light
  2. rash — on the skin
  3. clip — to cut
  4. rock — music
  5. clip — for paper
  6. branch — a division
  7. rash — a series
  8. march — the month
  9. rock — a stone
  10. clip — a video
  11. march — music
  12. club — for golf
  13. sharp — clever
  14. club — a group
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. rash — hasty
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. bulb — for light
  19. rock — to move gently
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. march — the month
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. bulb — of a plant
  24. club — for dancing

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