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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. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  3. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  4. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  5. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. Have you met the new head ________________?
  15. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  16. The ________________ took off on time.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. branch — of a bank
  3. staff — employees
  4. staff — employees
  5. staff — a stick
  6. prune — to trim
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. content — the amount
  9. club — for dancing
  10. prune — to trim
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. club — for golf
  16. plane — an aircraft
  17. capital — a city
  18. plane — a tool
  19. branch — a division
  20. plane — in geometry
  21. capital — money
  22. club — a group
  23. coach — pulled by horses
  24. branch — of a tree

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