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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 116 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.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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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. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  2. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. How do you ________________ your surname?
  21. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — a division
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. branch — of a tree
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. race — humankind
  6. content — happy
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. spell — magic
  9. cold — an illness
  10. pound — for dogs
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. spell — a short time
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. race — a contest
  15. chair — a leader
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. race — the arms race
  20. spell — letters
  21. pound — a weight
  22. cold — not warm
  23. perch — the fish
  24. content — the amount

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