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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: spring · tube · ground · drill · kick · straw · content · branch

  1. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  20. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  23. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — a division
  2. spring — the season
  3. content — the amount
  4. ground — a position
  5. drill — the tool
  6. content — happy
  7. ground — crushed
  8. drill — army training
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. spring — of water
  13. tube — in a tire
  14. tube — the underground
  15. ground — the earth
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. drill — a practice
  18. kick — in football
  19. kick — a thrill
  20. tube — a container
  21. spring — a coil
  22. kick — with a leg
  23. branch — of a bank
  24. straw — a straw man

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