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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: branch · mark · content · swing · row · bay · board · wound

  1. My mare is ________________ in color.
  2. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. David sat on the ________________.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  13. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  14. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  15. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. bay — a horse colour
  2. mark — to pay attention
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. swing — music
  5. wound — an injury
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. mark — a trace
  8. branch — a division
  9. swing — to play on
  10. content — happy
  11. wound — an injury
  12. board — a flat piece
  13. branch — of a bank
  14. board — to get on
  15. bay — a part of the sea
  16. swing — in golf
  17. row — a line
  18. board — a committee
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. content — the amount
  21. mark — a grade
  22. row — to paddle
  23. bay — to keep at bay
  24. branch — of a tree

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