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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: race · content · pound · racket · straw · branch · face · tube

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  8. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  14. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. branch — of a tree
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. branch — a division
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. racket — a loud noise
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. tube — the underground
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. pound — a weight
  12. race — humankind
  13. pound — to hit hard
  14. face — to confront
  15. face — to point toward
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. tube — a container
  18. face — part of the head
  19. race — a contest
  20. content — the amount
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. race — the arms race
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. straw — dry grass

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