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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  8. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. The ________________ took off on time.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. plane — in geometry
  3. spell — letters
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. rash — a series
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. branch — of a tree
  8. plane — a tool
  9. capital — money
  10. capital — a city
  11. spell — a short time
  12. degree — from a university
  13. degree — an amount
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. degree — temperature
  16. branch — a division
  17. plane — an aircraft
  18. spell — magic

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