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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. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  6. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  9. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. Don't do anything ________________.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — to put up with
  2. content — happy
  3. branch — a division
  4. face — to confront
  5. club — for golf
  6. bear — the animal
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. bear — the animal
  9. club — a group
  10. content — the amount
  11. last — finally
  12. scale — size or range
  13. last — to go on
  14. face — to point toward
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. scale — in music
  18. rash — on the skin
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. rash — hasty
  21. face — part of the head
  22. last — final
  23. rash — a series
  24. club — for dancing

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