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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. rest — what's left
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. stem — to come from
  6. stem — a stem cell
  7. degree — an amount
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. content — happy
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. branch — a division
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. content — the amount
  15. perch — the fish
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. rest — what's left
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. rest — a break
  22. degree — temperature
  23. degree — from a university
  24. content — videos and posts

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