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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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  3. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  17. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. branch — of a bank
  3. pass — to spend time
  4. chest — of your body
  5. current — of water
  6. snap — to click
  7. current — happening now
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. cold — an illness
  11. chest — a box
  12. rule — a law
  13. content — happy
  14. branch — a division
  15. rule — government
  16. rule — to rule out
  17. pass — a permit
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. pass — to succeed
  20. chest — of your body
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. current — electric
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. cold — not warm

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