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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. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  21. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  22. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  23. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  24. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — of a tree
  2. chest — of your body
  3. present — a gift
  4. swing — in golf
  5. court — for sport
  6. mark — a trace
  7. content — the amount
  8. chest — of your body
  9. spring — the season
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. mark — to pay attention
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. spring — of water
  14. court — of law
  15. spring — a coil
  16. swing — to play on
  17. chest — a box
  18. court — of a king
  19. swing — music
  20. present — there
  21. branch — a division
  22. present — the time now
  23. mark — a grade
  24. content — happy

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