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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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. When was this ________________ built?
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  21. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  22. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. chair — a leader
  3. last — final
  4. last — to go on
  5. content — happy
  6. temple — a place of worship
  7. last — finally
  8. rash — hasty
  9. band — a ring
  10. rash — a series
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. spell — letters
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. branch — a division
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. spell — a short time
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. chair — a professorship
  21. temple — side of the head
  22. temple — a place of worship
  23. band — a music group
  24. spell — magic

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