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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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. present — a gift
  3. branch — of a bank
  4. bat — the animal
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. row — to paddle
  7. row — a line
  8. content — happy
  9. present — the time now
  10. content — the amount
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. tear — from crying
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. ground — a position
  16. fork — in a road
  17. tear — from crying
  18. fork — a garden tool
  19. branch — a division
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. ground — crushed
  22. tear — to rip
  23. present — there
  24. ground — the earth

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