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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. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — a loud noise
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. capital — a city
  4. net — in sport
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. net — after costs
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. race — humankind
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. kid — to tease
  12. branch — a division
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. race — a contest
  15. wax — to grow
  16. capital — money
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. race — the arms race
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. kid — child
  22. snap — to click
  23. net — for catching
  24. branch — of a tree

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