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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 120 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. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  2. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  7. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  8. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  12. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  15. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — in football
  2. scale — for weighing
  3. content — happy
  4. pit — a fruit stone
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. bore — to tire
  7. branch — of a tree
  8. pit — in a race
  9. branch — a division
  10. ground — a position
  11. kick — with a leg
  12. pit — a hole
  13. content — the amount
  14. kick — a thrill
  15. bore — to drill
  16. ground — the earth
  17. scale — in music
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. bore — gave birth
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. row — to paddle
  22. row — a line
  23. ground — crushed
  24. scale — size or range

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