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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  3. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  4. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  5. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  6. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  14. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  18. What do you think of the new ________________?
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  23. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. branch — a division
  4. bass — the instrument
  5. branch — of a tree
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. squash — to crush
  9. content — the amount
  10. prune — to trim
  11. court — for sport
  12. squash — the sport
  13. bass — low music
  14. bass — the fish
  15. court — of a king
  16. prune — to trim
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. calf — of the leg
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. cabinet — a cupboard
  23. branch — of a bank
  24. court — of law

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