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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 coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  2. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. You don't need to ________________ round.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — in golf
  2. branch — a division
  3. branch — of a bank
  4. field — a subject
  5. swing — to play on
  6. pop — soda
  7. content — happy
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. spell — letters
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. shower — rain
  12. spell — a short time
  13. field — for sport
  14. court — of law
  15. content — the amount
  16. spell — magic
  17. field — farmland
  18. swing — music
  19. pop — music
  20. court — of a king
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. shower — to wash
  23. court — for sport
  24. pop — to visit

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