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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. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  2. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. I can't ________________ this cold.
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. Did you ________________ the meat?
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  16. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. I'll be taking the ________________.
  21. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — of a bank
  2. tube — a container
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. bat — the animal
  5. content — happy
  6. stand — to bear
  7. season — of the year
  8. cold — not warm
  9. cold — an illness
  10. saw — the tool
  11. season — to add flavour
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. branch — a division
  15. stand — on your feet
  16. stand — for spectators
  17. content — the amount
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. season — in sport
  20. tube — the underground
  21. branch — of a tree
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. saw — the tool

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