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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. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  4. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  5. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. Fill up this ________________ with water.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. capital — a city
  3. club — a group
  4. branch — a division
  5. club — for dancing
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. last — finally
  8. capital — money
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. last — to go on
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. last — final
  13. kid — child
  14. band — a music group
  15. spring — of water
  16. club — for golf
  17. band — a ring
  18. spring — a coil
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. branch — of a tree
  23. kid — to tease
  24. pitcher — a jug

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