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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  9. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  10. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  15. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  19. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. content — the amount
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. branch — a division
  7. cap — a hat
  8. cap — of ice
  9. rock — to move gently
  10. dip — to sink
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. rock — music
  15. dip — to dunk
  16. bark — to shout
  17. content — happy
  18. dip — a sauce
  19. cap — a lid
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. rock — a stone
  23. wake — a trail
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

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