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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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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  3. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  10. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  11. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  23. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  24. Boris sat near the fire ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. toast — bread
  3. toast — the most admired
  4. content — happy
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. pit — a fruit stone
  7. content — the amount
  8. branch — a division
  9. pit — in a race
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. lie — an untruth
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. lie — to recline
  14. capital — money
  15. toast — a drink to someone
  16. capital — a city
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. present — the time now
  19. shower — rain
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. present — a gift
  23. present — there
  24. pit — a hole

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