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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: cell · present · bat · race · branch · bank · kick · content

  1. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  15. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  19. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  20. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. kick — in football
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. race — a contest
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. race — humankind
  8. race — the arms race
  9. cell — a phone
  10. branch — a division
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. content — happy
  13. cell — in biology
  14. kick — a thrill
  15. bank — for money
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. bank — of a river
  19. present — the time now
  20. present — there
  21. content — the amount
  22. bank — for money
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. bat — the animal

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