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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. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  2. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  3. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  20. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. Where did you ________________ them?
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — a division
  2. branch — of a bank
  3. track — a song
  4. chair — a leader
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. content — happy
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. content — the amount
  9. last — final
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. track — to keep track
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. mug — a cup
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. row — to paddle
  18. last — finally
  19. mug — a face
  20. track — a path
  21. bat — the animal
  22. mug — to rob
  23. row — a line
  24. last — to go on

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