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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: racket · branch · temple · content · wax · clip · season · track

  1. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  7. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. Did you ________________ the meat?
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  18. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  22. When was this ________________ built?
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. season — of the year
  3. clip — for paper
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. branch — a division
  6. track — a song
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. content — the amount
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. season — to add flavour
  11. wax — to grow
  12. racket — a loud noise
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. clip — to cut
  17. temple — side of the head
  18. track — to keep track
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. content — happy
  21. season — in sport
  22. temple — a place of worship
  23. clip — a video
  24. track — a path

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