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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. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  19. Did you ________________ the meat?
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. kid — child
  3. branch — of a tree
  4. chair — a leader
  5. chest — a box
  6. chest — of your body
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. kid — to tease
  9. fall — to drop
  10. fall — the season
  11. chest — of your body
  12. branch — a division
  13. content — happy
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. rock — to move gently
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. rock — music
  19. season — to add flavour
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. fall — to drop
  22. rock — a stone
  23. content — the amount
  24. season — in sport

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