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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. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  18. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — bread
  2. cell — in biology
  3. bore — to tire
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. kid — to tease
  6. toast — a drink to someone
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. bore — gave birth
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. branch — a division
  15. wake — a trail
  16. content — the amount
  17. toast — the most admired
  18. bore — to drill
  19. content — happy
  20. wake — to stop sleeping
  21. cell — a phone
  22. kid — child
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. cell — in a prison

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