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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 116 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.

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: content · nail · pound · branch · chair · press · mine · bat

  1. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. Did you ________________ the button?
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  13. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  14. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. The ________________ went through the wall.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. press — newspapers
  6. content — happy
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. nail — on a finger
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. press — to push
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. pound — to hit hard
  14. pound — a weight
  15. chair — a leader
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. bat — the animal
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. press — a publisher
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. branch — a division
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. pound — for dogs
  24. content — the amount

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