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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 124 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 bank has a ________________ near the station.
  2. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  4. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  23. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  24. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — of a bank
  2. lean — thin
  3. branch — of a tree
  4. chip — for betting
  5. press — to push
  6. snap — to click
  7. scale — size or range
  8. lean — to bend
  9. branch — a division
  10. tear — from crying
  11. scale — in music
  12. press — a publisher
  13. tear — from crying
  14. capital — a city
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. chip — in a computer
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. capital — money
  21. tear — to rip
  22. lean — to rest against
  23. chip — to eat
  24. press — newspapers

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