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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. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. The light ________________ burned out.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. I've got to change the light ________________.
  17. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. Where did you ________________ them?
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. land — a country
  3. march — the month
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. content — the amount
  9. bulb — for light
  10. land — ground
  11. march — the month
  12. mug — a face
  13. march — music
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. fork — in a road
  16. bulb — for light
  17. bulb — of a plant
  18. branch — a division
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. mug — a cup
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. mug — to rob
  23. land — to come down
  24. fork — a garden tool

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