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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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. game — a match
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. branch — a division
  6. pass — a permit
  7. game — wild animals
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. prune — to trim
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. wind — moving air
  14. pass — to spend time
  15. wind — moving air
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. content — happy
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. fork — in a road
  21. pass — to succeed
  22. prune — to trim
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. fork — a garden tool

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