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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: chest · drill · date · lie · content · ground · branch · mate

  1. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  12. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. Have you found your soul ________________?
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  20. Have you settled on a ________________?
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. date — the fruit
  2. chest — of your body
  3. mate — to breed
  4. ground — a position
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. mate — a friend
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. chest — a box
  9. lie — an untruth
  10. drill — a practice
  11. lie — an untruth
  12. lie — to recline
  13. chest — of your body
  14. drill — the tool
  15. drill — army training
  16. content — happy
  17. mate — a partner
  18. ground — crushed
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. content — the amount
  22. branch — of a tree
  23. ground — the earth
  24. branch — a division

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