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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.

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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. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. I've got to change the light ________________.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. The light ________________ burned out.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  16. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  17. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  18. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — of a plant
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. field — for sport
  5. bulb — for light
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. cap — a lid
  8. bulb — for light
  9. branch — a division
  10. content — happy
  11. field — farmland
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. bat — the animal
  14. cap — of ice
  15. bank — for money
  16. cap — a hat
  17. bank — for money
  18. bank — of a river
  19. game — a match
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. branch — of a tree
  22. content — the amount
  23. field — a subject
  24. game — wild animals

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