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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: branch · file · march · drill · date · swing · degree · rule

  1. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  2. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  5. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. Have you settled on a ________________?
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  20. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  21. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. rule — a law
  3. degree — an amount
  4. swing — music
  5. date — the fruit
  6. march — the month
  7. drill — army training
  8. swing — to play on
  9. march — music
  10. degree — from a university
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. file — a tool
  14. drill — the tool
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. drill — a practice
  18. degree — temperature
  19. rule — government
  20. branch — a division
  21. rule — to rule out
  22. file — a line of people
  23. file — a document
  24. swing — in golf

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