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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. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  4. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  13. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  14. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. When was this ________________ built?
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. track — a song
  3. branch — of a bank
  4. track — to keep track
  5. branch — a division
  6. last — final
  7. last — to go on
  8. spring — of water
  9. content — happy
  10. bat — the animal
  11. bass — the fish
  12. track — a path
  13. temple — a place of worship
  14. temple — side of the head
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. bass — the instrument
  17. content — the amount
  18. bass — low music
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. last — finally
  22. temple — a place of worship
  23. spring — a coil
  24. content — videos and posts

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