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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. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  21. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. content — happy
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. band — a ring
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. court — of law
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. club — for dancing
  12. court — of a king
  13. mine — for digging
  14. calf — of the leg
  15. cap — a lid
  16. cap — of ice
  17. content — the amount
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. band — a music group
  20. cap — a hat
  21. branch — a division
  22. club — a group
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. court — for sport

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