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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. I can't ________________ this cold.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. I've got to change the light ________________.
  20. The light ________________ burned out.
  21. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  24. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — to bear
  2. last — to go on
  3. content — happy
  4. last — finally
  5. last — final
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. content — the amount
  8. stand — for spectators
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. march — the month
  11. hand — in cards
  12. hand — help
  13. court — of a king
  14. march — music
  15. court — for sport
  16. court — of law
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. march — the month
  19. bulb — for light
  20. bulb — for light
  21. branch — a division
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. stand — on your feet
  24. bulb — of a plant

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