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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 116 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 girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  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. row — a line
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. branch — of a bank
  4. fall — the season
  5. fall — to drop
  6. spell — letters
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. content — happy
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. fall — to drop
  12. tube — the underground
  13. pitch — a sports field
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. tube — a container
  16. spell — a short time
  17. content — the amount
  18. spell — magic
  19. branch — a division
  20. pitch — completely
  21. pitch — a sales talk
  22. row — to paddle
  23. wake — a trail
  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