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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. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  2. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  16. That must've been a ________________.
  17. I can't ________________ this cold.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — of a tree
  2. mark — a grade
  3. rush — hurry
  4. branch — a division
  5. wind — moving air
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. land — ground
  8. content — happy
  9. mark — a trace
  10. land — a country
  11. land — to come down
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. rush — to hurry
  14. wind — moving air
  15. mark — to pay attention
  16. rush — a thrill
  17. stand — to bear
  18. content — the amount
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. stand — on your feet
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. stand — for spectators
  23. bat — the animal
  24. bat — in an idiom

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