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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. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. My father caught me by the ________________.
  8. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  16. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  17. Did you ________________ the meat?
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. Should I buy a wireless ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. content — happy
  3. wind — moving air
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. mouse — the animal
  9. band — a music group
  10. prune — to trim
  11. arm — a part of something
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. content — the amount
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. mouse — the animal
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. season — to add flavour
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. band — a ring
  20. branch — a division
  21. wind — moving air
  22. season — in sport
  23. prune — to trim
  24. mouse — for a computer

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