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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  10. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  11. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  18. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. My mare is ________________ in color.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. leaves — to go away
  4. content — the amount
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. branch — a division
  7. leaves — of a tree
  8. bass — the fish
  9. leaves — lets stay
  10. bay — a part of the sea
  11. bass — the instrument
  12. bat — the animal
  13. bay — to keep at bay
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. bass — low music
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. bowl — a football final
  18. bowl — to roll
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. game — wild animals
  22. game — a match
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. bay — a horse colour

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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