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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. David sat on the ________________.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  4. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  18. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  19. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. stem — of a plant
  5. season — of the year
  6. content — happy
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. season — in sport
  9. branch — a division
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. stem — to come from
  12. content — the amount
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. mouse — the animal
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. swing — music
  17. dip — to dunk
  18. dip — to sink
  19. dip — a sauce
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. mouse — for a computer
  23. swing — in golf
  24. bat — the animal

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