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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. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  7. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  8. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  9. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  12. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  13. We're almost out of ________________.
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  16. That was ________________ to happen.
  17. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. degree — from a university
  3. branch — a division
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. content — happy
  6. current — electric
  7. club — for golf
  8. club — for dancing
  9. bound — tied together
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. pop — music
  12. current — of water
  13. pop — soda
  14. bound — obliged
  15. current — happening now
  16. bound — certain
  17. club — a group
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. content — the amount
  20. degree — an amount
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. mine — for digging
  23. degree — temperature
  24. mine — belonging to me

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