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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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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: bowl · bore · wind · land · track · cell · branch · content

  1. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  7. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  14. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  17. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a song
  2. cell — in biology
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. content — happy
  5. land — to come down
  6. bowl — a dish
  7. track — to keep track
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. branch — a division
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. wind — moving air
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. track — a path
  14. bore — to drill
  15. land — a country
  16. bore — gave birth
  17. bore — to tire
  18. wind — moving air
  19. cell — a phone
  20. bowl — to roll
  21. content — the amount
  22. land — ground
  23. bowl — a football final
  24. cell — in a prison

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