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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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  19. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  20. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  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. bowl — a dish
  2. march — music
  3. net — for catching
  4. branch — a division
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. net — after costs
  7. bowl — a football final
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. march — the month
  10. march — the month
  11. net — in sport
  12. swing — to play on
  13. squash — the sport
  14. swing — in golf
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. content — the amount
  17. content — happy
  18. bowl — to roll
  19. pound — to hit hard
  20. pound — for dogs
  21. squash — to crush
  22. swing — music
  23. pound — a weight
  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