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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: branch · land · fall · content · wind · date · hand · cue

  1. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  7. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  8. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. Have you settled on a ________________?
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. fall — to drop
  3. branch — of a bank
  4. fall — the season
  5. land — ground
  6. date — the fruit
  7. cue — a signal
  8. cue — for pool
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. hand — in cards
  11. content — the amount
  12. cue — a hint
  13. hand — help
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. land — to come down
  16. wind — moving air
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. branch — a division
  19. content — happy
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. land — a country
  24. fall — to drop

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