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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. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  6. We're on a ________________ here.
  7. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  15. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. cap — a lid
  3. branch — of a bank
  4. drill — a practice
  5. roll — a cake
  6. roll — on a roll
  7. roll — a list
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. capital — a city
  10. stem — to come from
  11. drill — army training
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. cap — a hat
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. branch — a division
  16. kid — to tease
  17. kid — child
  18. cap — of ice
  19. capital — money
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. drill — the tool
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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