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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: can · cell · branch · saw · mate · fan · bark · content

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. Have you found your soul ________________?
  8. She's very handy with a ________________.
  9. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  13. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  17. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  23. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. cell — a phone
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. saw — the tool
  7. mate — a partner
  8. saw — the tool
  9. saw — past of 'see'
  10. bark — to shout
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. can — to be able to
  13. can — a tin
  14. mate — a friend
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. mate — to breed
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. content — the amount
  21. cell — in biology
  22. branch — of a tree
  23. can — a tin
  24. branch — a division

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