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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  4. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  5. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  8. That was ________________ to happen.
  9. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  15. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  16. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  17. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  24. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. content — the amount
  3. bear — the animal
  4. branch — a division
  5. rock — a stone
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. bound — obliged
  8. bound — certain
  9. present — there
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. bound — tied together
  13. file — a line of people
  14. bear — the animal
  15. rock — to move gently
  16. present — the time now
  17. present — a gift
  18. file — a document
  19. capital — a city
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. file — a tool
  22. capital — money
  23. rock — music
  24. bear — to put up with

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