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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 · nail · game · content · court · snap · rash · kick

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  19. Don't do anything ________________.
  20. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  21. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  22. The ________________ went through the wall.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. court — of law
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. snap — to click
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. court — for sport
  7. branch — a division
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. game — a match
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. content — the amount
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. court — of a king
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. kick — a thrill
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. rash — a series
  19. rash — hasty
  20. nail — on a finger
  21. kick — in football
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. game — wild animals
  24. branch — of a bank

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