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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: can · rest · bat · branch · march · present · cold · kick

  1. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  6. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  7. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  8. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  14. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  15. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  16. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  17. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. branch — of a bank
  4. march — the month
  5. can — a tin
  6. can — a tin
  7. present — there
  8. rest — a break
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. march — music
  11. cold — an illness
  12. branch — a division
  13. rest — what's left
  14. kick — a thrill
  15. kick — with a leg
  16. can — to be able to
  17. present — a gift
  18. cold — not warm
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. march — the month
  21. kick — in football
  22. bat — the animal
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. present — the time now

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