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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: content · leaves · race · pitch · wake · snap · branch · bound

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  10. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. That was ________________ to happen.
  17. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  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. content — happy
  2. leaves — to go away
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. race — the arms race
  7. pitch — completely
  8. content — the amount
  9. leaves — lets stay
  10. leaves — of a tree
  11. race — humankind
  12. bound — tied together
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. bound — obliged
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. bound — certain
  17. pitch — a sales talk
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. snap — to click
  20. race — a contest
  21. pitch — a sports field
  22. branch — a division
  23. wake — a trail
  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