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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 116 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. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. The ________________ took off on time.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. content — happy
  3. plane — a tool
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. wound — an injury
  6. cell — in biology
  7. wake — a trail
  8. capital — money
  9. cell — a phone
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. pound — for dogs
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. pound — to hit hard
  16. capital — a city
  17. plane — in geometry
  18. pound — a weight
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. content — the amount
  23. plane — an aircraft
  24. branch — a division

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