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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 120 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: kid · chair · band · branch · mate · bank · content · tear

  1. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. mate — a partner
  3. band — a ring
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. bank — of a river
  6. content — happy
  7. chair — a leader
  8. kid — to tease
  9. bank — for money
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. band — a music group
  12. mate — a friend
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. branch — a division
  15. tear — to rip
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. kid — child
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. bank — for money
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. content — the amount
  22. mate — to breed
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. tear — from crying

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