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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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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: content · deal · field · file · chest · cap · dip · branch

  1. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  5. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. chest — a box
  3. field — a subject
  4. dip — to dunk
  5. dip — a sauce
  6. cap — a hat
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. field — farmland
  9. dip — to sink
  10. branch — a division
  11. cap — a lid
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. content — happy
  15. file — a line of people
  16. cap — of ice
  17. field — for sport
  18. deal — to handle
  19. file — a tool
  20. deal — a big deal
  21. content — the amount
  22. deal — an agreement
  23. chest — of your body
  24. file — a document

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