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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.

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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: stem · wind · bound · swing · branch · content · spell · bat

  1. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. That was ________________ to happen.
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. content — happy
  3. spell — letters
  4. bat — the animal
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. bound — tied together
  9. swing — music
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. spell — a short time
  12. swing — to play on
  13. content — the amount
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. bound — obliged
  16. spell — magic
  17. bound — certain
  18. stem — to come from
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. wind — moving air
  21. swing — in golf
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. branch — a division

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