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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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. stem — of a plant
  3. game — a match
  4. bark — to shout
  5. press — to push
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. net — after costs
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. bat — the animal
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. content — happy
  13. net — for catching
  14. press — newspapers
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. content — the amount
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. stem — to come from
  19. game — wild animals
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. branch — a division
  22. net — in sport
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. press — a publisher

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