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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. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  14. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  15. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  16. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — a division
  2. current — of water
  3. capital — money
  4. current — happening now
  5. spell — letters
  6. current — electric
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. cold — not warm
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. branch — of a bank
  14. fan — to cool the air
  15. bank — for money
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. cold — an illness
  18. bank — for money
  19. capital — a city
  20. spell — magic
  21. bank — of a river
  22. spell — a short time
  23. wind — moving air
  24. wind — moving air

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