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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: roll · cabinet · squash · land · hand · branch · track · content

  1. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  8. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  9. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. We're on a ________________ here.
  17. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. What do you think of the new ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. land — to come down
  3. roll — a cake
  4. land — ground
  5. content — happy
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. track — a song
  8. squash — the sport
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. hand — in cards
  11. cabinet — a cupboard
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. track — to keep track
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. roll — on a roll
  17. branch — a division
  18. squash — to crush
  19. track — a path
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. hand — help
  22. roll — a list
  23. land — a country
  24. cabinet — ministers

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