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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 people resisted their cruel ________________.
  2. That was ________________ to happen.
  3. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  13. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  22. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. ruler — a monarch
  2. bound — certain
  3. ruler — for measuring
  4. content — the amount
  5. bound — tied together
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. court — of law
  8. court — for sport
  9. chest — a box
  10. hide — animal skin
  11. chest — of your body
  12. bound — obliged
  13. ruler — for measuring
  14. cold — not warm
  15. court — of a king
  16. cold — an illness
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. chest — of your body
  20. content — happy
  21. branch — a division
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. branch — of a bank

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