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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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  3. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  8. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. Have you found your soul ________________?
  16. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  19. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  24. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. track — to keep track
  3. branch — a division
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. mate — to breed
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. shower — to wash
  11. content — happy
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. shower — rain
  14. content — the amount
  15. mate — a partner
  16. bowl — to roll
  17. track — a song
  18. hide — animal skin
  19. bowl — a football final
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. bat — the animal
  23. mate — a friend
  24. track — a path

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