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

Word bank: content · season · chest · swing · cell · bark · land · chair

  1. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. Did you ________________ the meat?
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. swing — music
  3. chest — a box
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. season — of the year
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. season — in sport
  8. content — the amount
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. bark — to shout
  12. land — to come down
  13. chest — of your body
  14. land — ground
  15. swing — in golf
  16. cell — in biology
  17. season — to add flavour
  18. chair — a leader
  19. chest — of your body
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. swing — to play on
  22. cell — a phone
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. content — happy

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