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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 · dip · spell · march · band · branch · mark · shower

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  3. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  4. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  14. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?
  19. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. rock — to move gently
  3. dip — a sauce
  4. rock — music
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. branch — a division
  7. band — a music group
  8. band — a ring
  9. shower — rain
  10. rock — a stone
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. march — music
  13. dip — to sink
  14. dip — to dunk
  15. spell — magic
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. spell — a short time
  18. spell — letters
  19. mark — a grade
  20. march — the month
  21. mark — a trace
  22. march — the month
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. mark — to pay attention

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