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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. What do you think of the new ________________?
  3. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  4. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  5. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  6. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  7. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. When will it ________________ you to start?
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  20. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  21. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  22. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  23. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  24. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. branch — a division
  5. suit — in cards
  6. patient — calm and waiting
  7. branch — of a tree
  8. spring — a coil
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. degree — an amount
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. spring — of water
  13. suit — to fit
  14. content — the amount
  15. degree — from a university
  16. spring — the season
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. degree — temperature
  19. bowl — to roll
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. suit — clothes
  22. cabinet — a cupboard
  23. bowl — a dish
  24. bowl — a football final

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