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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. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to succeed
  2. wind — moving air
  3. craft — a skill
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. chair — a leader
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. branch — a division
  8. content — happy
  9. field — a subject
  10. craft — a handicraft
  11. content — the amount
  12. tube — a container
  13. pass — to spend time
  14. wind — moving air
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. field — farmland
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. tube — the underground
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. pass — a permit
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. field — for sport
  24. craft — boats

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