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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 120 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. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  2. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  9. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  10. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. Don't do anything ________________.
  18. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — a series
  2. present — the time now
  3. content — happy
  4. branch — a division
  5. hand — help
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. present — there
  9. current — happening now
  10. present — a gift
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. current — of water
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. shower — to wash
  16. swing — to play on
  17. rash — hasty
  18. current — electric
  19. shower — rain
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. swing — in golf
  22. content — the amount
  23. hand — in cards
  24. swing — music

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