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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. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — a division
  2. spring — a coil
  3. race — the arms race
  4. file — a tool
  5. capital — money
  6. race — a contest
  7. tube — a container
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. capital — a city
  10. pound — a weight
  11. pound — for dogs
  12. file — a document
  13. spring — the season
  14. tube — the underground
  15. pound — to hit hard
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. file — a line of people
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. racket — a loud noise
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. race — humankind
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. spring — of water
  24. tube — in a tire

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