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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. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  7. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  18. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. bank — for money
  3. cell — in biology
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. bank — of a river
  7. fan — to cool the air
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. hand — in cards
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. bark — to shout
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. hand — help
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. bank — for money
  19. content — the amount
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. cell — a phone
  22. wake — a trail
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. bark — of a tree

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