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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: perch · content · branch · foot · bowl · mine · kid · pop

  1. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  4. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  5. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. We're almost out of ________________.
  16. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  20. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. You don't need to ________________ round.
  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. bowl — to roll
  2. kid — to tease
  3. branch — of a bank
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. bowl — a dish
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. perch — the fish
  11. bowl — a football final
  12. content — happy
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. branch — a division
  15. pop — soda
  16. foot — the bottom
  17. pop — music
  18. kid — child
  19. foot — a measure
  20. foot — part of the body
  21. mine — for digging
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. pop — to visit
  24. content — the amount

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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