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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 116 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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  3. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. Boris sat near the fire ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. tube — a container
  3. branch — a division
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. capital — a city
  7. capital — money
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. pit — in a race
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. tube — the underground
  13. pit — a fruit stone
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. mine — for digging
  18. pit — a hole

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