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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 don't want to ________________ the boat.
  2. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — to move gently
  2. rock — music
  3. field — farmland
  4. rock — a stone
  5. spell — magic
  6. lean — to bend
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. content — happy
  9. tube — a container
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. tube — the underground
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. spell — letters
  14. field — a subject
  15. branch — a division
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. lean — thin
  18. spell — a short time
  19. field — for sport
  20. lean — to rest against
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. content — the amount
  23. bass — the fish
  24. bass — low music

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