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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. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  2. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  7. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. I can't ________________ this cold.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  19. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  22. This piece is in a major ________________.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — a division
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. content — happy
  4. content — the amount
  5. spring — a coil
  6. bass — the fish
  7. stand — for spectators
  8. clip — to cut
  9. key — for a lock
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. clip — a video
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. stand — on your feet
  14. clip — for paper
  15. stand — to bear
  16. spring — of water
  17. bark — to shout
  18. bass — low music
  19. key — the most important part
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. branch — of a tree
  22. key — in music
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. spring — the season

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