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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. hand — help
  3. branch — of a bank
  4. field — a subject
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. field — for sport
  7. branch — a division
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. safe — out of danger
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. safe — a strongbox
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. shower — rain
  14. shower — to wash
  15. field — farmland
  16. capital — money
  17. safe — out of danger
  18. hand — in cards

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