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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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. Have you settled on a ________________?
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  19. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  20. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. She's very handy with a ________________.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — a division
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. content — happy
  4. present — a gift
  5. tube — a container
  6. race — a contest
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. saw — the tool
  9. present — there
  10. tube — the underground
  11. race — the arms race
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. bat — the animal
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. race — humankind
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. present — the time now
  19. saw — past of 'see'
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. content — the amount
  22. saw — the tool
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. date — the fruit

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