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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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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: bass · march · racket · rule · hand · cold · rest · branch

  1. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  2. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  4. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  5. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  6. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  19. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  23. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  24. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. branch — of a tree
  4. bass — the instrument
  5. bass — the fish
  6. rest — a break
  7. hand — help
  8. cold — an illness
  9. branch — a division
  10. racket — a loud noise
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. cold — not warm
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. rest — what's left
  16. hand — in cards
  17. march — the month
  18. rest — what's left
  19. bass — low music
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. march — music
  22. rule — to rule out
  23. rule — government
  24. rule — a law

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