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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 120 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: cold · branch · wind · lean · racket · content · tube · bowl

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  3. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  4. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  5. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. I'll be taking the ________________.
  22. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  24. He hit the ball with his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. branch — of a bank
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. bowl — a football final
  5. lean — thin
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. cold — not warm
  8. bowl — a dish
  9. lean — to rest against
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. bowl — to roll
  12. wind — moving air
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. content — the amount
  15. content — happy
  16. tube — a container
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. lean — to bend
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. wind — moving air
  21. tube — the underground
  22. racket — a loud noise
  23. branch — a division
  24. racket — for tennis

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