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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: content · fall · wind · branch · wake · snap · rest · march

  1. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  11. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. content — the amount
  3. wind — moving air
  4. wind — moving air
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. march — the month
  7. content — happy
  8. fall — to drop
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. rest — what's left
  11. wake — a trail
  12. march — music
  13. fall — to drop
  14. branch — a division
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. march — the month
  17. rest — a break
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. fall — the season
  22. rest — what's left
  23. snap — to click
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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