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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 116 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: content · plane · cell · perch · chair · branch · squash · bass

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. The ________________ took off on time.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  14. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  15. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  21. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. bass — the fish
  3. squash — to crush
  4. bass — low music
  5. squash — the sport
  6. plane — an aircraft
  7. chair — a leader
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. branch — a division
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. squash — the vegetable
  14. plane — in geometry
  15. plane — a tool
  16. perch — the fish
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. content — the amount
  19. cell — a phone
  20. chair — a professorship
  21. branch — of a tree
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. cell — in biology

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