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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. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  18. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  22. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. root — of a word
  2. swing — to play on
  3. cell — in biology
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. cell — a phone
  6. swing — in golf
  7. content — happy
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. chest — of your body
  10. chair — a leader
  11. branch — a division
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. content — the amount
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. root — the cause
  18. track — to keep track
  19. swing — music
  20. chest — of your body
  21. track — a song
  22. root — of a plant
  23. chest — a box
  24. track — a path

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