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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 120 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. The King held a masked ________________.
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a dance
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. content — the amount
  4. root — of a word
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. fall — to drop
  7. branch — a division
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. drill — army training
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. fall — to drop
  12. capital — a city
  13. ball — a great time
  14. drill — the tool
  15. root — the cause
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. drill — a practice
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. root — of a plant
  20. capital — money
  21. content — happy
  22. perch — the fish
  23. fall — the season
  24. capital — a big letter

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