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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  3. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  6. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  7. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  8. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  9. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  19. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  23. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  24. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. branch — of a bank
  3. craft — a skill
  4. content — happy
  5. pit — a fruit stone
  6. perch — the fish
  7. branch — of a tree
  8. club — for dancing
  9. pit — a hole
  10. content — the amount
  11. craft — boats
  12. spring — the season
  13. mine — for digging
  14. branch — a division
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. club — a group
  19. pit — in a race
  20. spring — of water
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. craft — a handicraft
  23. club — for golf
  24. perch — for a bird

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