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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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
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: mark · mine · bowl · chest · roll · wound · branch · content

  1. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  7. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  8. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  13. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. We're on a ________________ here.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  21. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  22. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — of a tree
  2. chest — of your body
  3. bowl — to roll
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. mark — a trace
  7. mark — to pay attention
  8. roll — a cake
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. chest — a box
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. mark — a grade
  13. bowl — a football final
  14. content — the amount
  15. chest — of your body
  16. wound — an injury
  17. content — happy
  18. roll — on a roll
  19. wound — an injury
  20. bowl — a dish
  21. branch — a division
  22. roll — a list
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. mine — for digging

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