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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. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — of a bank
  2. fall — to drop
  3. fall — to drop
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. swing — to play on
  6. bore — gave birth
  7. content — the amount
  8. swing — in golf
  9. chest — a box
  10. bore — to tire
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. swing — music
  13. chest — of your body
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. branch — a division
  16. row — a line
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. content — happy
  19. bore — to drill
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. chest — of your body
  22. row — to paddle
  23. perch — the fish
  24. fall — the season

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