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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 · ball · kid · bank · bowl · field · content · clip

  1. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  2. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  17. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  22. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. The King held a masked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bank — for money
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. field — a subject
  4. kid — child
  5. ball — a great time
  6. content — happy
  7. kid — to tease
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. field — farmland
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. clip — to cut
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. bowl — a football final
  14. clip — a video
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. bank — of a river
  17. bank — for money
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. clip — for paper
  20. field — for sport
  21. branch — a division
  22. bowl — to roll
  23. content — the amount
  24. ball — a dance

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