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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 kitten curled into a ________________.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. The King held a masked ________________.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a round shape
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. game — a match
  4. content — the amount
  5. ball — a dance
  6. content — happy
  7. rock — a stone
  8. branch — a division
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. rock — music
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. cell — a phone
  13. rock — to move gently
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. bark — to shout
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. cell — in biology
  20. game — wild animals
  21. branch — of a tree
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. ball — a great time
  24. content — videos and posts

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