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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.

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: bear · snap · stick · sharp · march · cold · rush · branch

  1. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. That must've been a ________________.
  5. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  16. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — to put up with
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. march — the month
  4. rush — a thrill
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. sharp — clever
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. stick — to attach or keep to
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. rush — to hurry
  12. snap — to click
  13. bear — the animal
  14. march — the month
  15. branch — a division
  16. rush — hurry
  17. cold — not warm
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. march — music
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. stick — a piece of wood
  23. cold — an illness
  24. bear — the animal

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