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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  3. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  4. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  5. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  6. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  16. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  19. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  20. The ________________ went through the wall.
  21. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  24. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. track — to keep track
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. track — a path
  5. stem — of a plant
  6. season — in sport
  7. branch — a division
  8. season — of the year
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. racket — a loud noise
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. content — happy
  13. foot — a measure
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. foot — the bottom
  17. content — the amount
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. stem — to come from
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. foot — part of the body
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. nail — on a finger
  24. track — a song

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