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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: mine · branch · firm · key · chair · content · cell · fall

  1. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  3. This piece is in a major ________________.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  20. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  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. chair — to sit on
  2. key — for a lock
  3. key — in music
  4. chair — a leader
  5. content — happy
  6. firm — steady
  7. fall — to drop
  8. branch — a division
  9. fall — the season
  10. cell — in biology
  11. cell — a phone
  12. fall — to drop
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. firm — decided
  15. mine — for digging
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. firm — a company
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. key — the most important part
  20. chair — a professorship
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. content — the amount
  23. content — videos and posts
  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