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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. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  2. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  16. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  19. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  20. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  21. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  24. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — a law
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. swing — to play on
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. root — of a plant
  8. content — happy
  9. swing — music
  10. swing — in golf
  11. cold — not warm
  12. cold — an illness
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. content — the amount
  15. current — of water
  16. root — of a word
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. rule — government
  19. perch — the fish
  20. current — electric
  21. branch — of a tree
  22. branch — a division
  23. root — the cause
  24. current — happening now

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