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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  4. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  7. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  8. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. The ________________ took off on time.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. branch — a division
  4. club — a group
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. staff — a stick
  7. plane — in geometry
  8. club — for golf
  9. capital — money
  10. plane — a tool
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. capital — a city
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. club — for dancing
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. degree — from a university
  18. staff — employees
  19. degree — temperature
  20. plane — an aircraft
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. staff — employees
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. degree — an amount

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