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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 · content · rock · root · pop · bat · saw · net

  1. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. You don't need to ________________ round.
  7. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  18. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. We're almost out of ________________.
  21. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  22. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  23. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — a division
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. content — the amount
  4. net — in sport
  5. content — happy
  6. pop — to visit
  7. root — of a word
  8. bat — the animal
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. net — for catching
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. net — after costs
  13. rock — music
  14. saw — the tool
  15. saw — the tool
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. rock — to move gently
  18. root — the cause
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. pop — soda
  21. pop — music
  22. root — of a plant
  23. rock — a stone
  24. content — videos and posts

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