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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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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: racket · branch · pound · mouse · march · snap · cold · squash

  1. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  4. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  5. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  6. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  18. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. I'd like to play a game of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. pound — to hit hard
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. march — the month
  8. snap — to click
  9. pound — a weight
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. march — music
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. pound — for dogs
  16. cold — an illness
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. mouse — for a computer
  19. cold — not warm
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. racket — a loud noise
  22. branch — a division
  23. squash — to crush
  24. squash — the sport

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