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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. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  2. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  3. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. She's very handy with a ________________.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — a break
  2. branch — of a bank
  3. rest — what's left
  4. game — wild animals
  5. rest — what's left
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. saw — the tool
  8. branch — a division
  9. land — a country
  10. chest — of your body
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. last — finally
  13. content — the amount
  14. game — a match
  15. last — to go on
  16. land — to come down
  17. content — happy
  18. land — ground
  19. chest — a box
  20. saw — the tool
  21. last — final
  22. branch — of a tree
  23. chest — of your body
  24. content — videos and posts

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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