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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: content · rock · branch · ground · racket · shower · clip · cell

  1. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  12. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  21. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. He hit the ball with his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. ground — a position
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. clip — to cut
  5. ground — crushed
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. content — happy
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. clip — for paper
  10. content — the amount
  11. rock — a stone
  12. rock — music
  13. clip — a video
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. cell — in biology
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. branch — a division
  18. ground — the earth
  19. shower — rain
  20. rock — to move gently
  21. racket — a loud noise
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. shower — to wash
  24. racket — for tennis

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