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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. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  2. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  14. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  15. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  16. Have you settled on a ________________?
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. mark — a trace
  2. mark — to pay attention
  3. content — happy
  4. ruler — a monarch
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. row — to paddle
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. branch — a division
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. wake — a trail
  12. content — the amount
  13. date — the fruit
  14. ruler — for measuring
  15. mark — a grade
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. row — a line
  18. ruler — for measuring
  19. net — in sport
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. net — for catching
  22. wake — to stop sleeping
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. net — after costs

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