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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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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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  16. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  17. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. branch — of a tree
  3. chest — of your body
  4. file — a document
  5. land — a country
  6. capital — money
  7. capital — a city
  8. land — ground
  9. chest — of your body
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. chest — a box
  12. file — a line of people
  13. dip — a sauce
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. branch — a division
  16. dip — to sink
  17. dip — to dunk
  18. file — a tool

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