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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. rock — music
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. spring — of water
  5. pop — soda
  6. content — the amount
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. rock — a stone
  9. scale — size or range
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. pop — to visit
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. spring — a coil
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. rock — to move gently
  18. perch — the fish
  19. branch — a division
  20. pop — music
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. scale — in music
  23. patient — calm and waiting
  24. spring — the season

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