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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.

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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: sharp · pound · rash · hand · branch · wax · bat · march

  1. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. Don't do anything ________________.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. branch — of a tree
  3. bat — the animal
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. branch — a division
  7. march — music
  8. march — the month
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. hand — in cards
  11. rash — hasty
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. pound — for dogs
  14. march — the month
  15. wax — to grow
  16. rash — a series
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. pound — a weight
  19. sharp — clever
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. pound — to hit hard
  22. hand — help
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. wax — in the ear

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