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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: shower · coach · season · drill · bear · content · lean · branch

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  8. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  17. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  18. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. Did you ________________ the meat?
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. season — of the year
  4. lean — thin
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. drill — army training
  7. bear — to put up with
  8. bear — the animal
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. coach — pulled by horses
  11. shower — rain
  12. content — the amount
  13. branch — a division
  14. drill — the tool
  15. shower — to wash
  16. season — in sport
  17. bear — the animal
  18. lean — to rest against
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. drill — a practice
  21. lean — to bend
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. season — to add flavour
  24. content — videos and posts

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