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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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  3. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  6. That was ________________ to happen.
  7. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  18. That must've been a ________________.
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. vault — a safe
  3. branch — a division
  4. ground — crushed
  5. bound — obliged
  6. bound — certain
  7. rush — to hurry
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. ground — a position
  10. racket — a loud noise
  11. capital — money
  12. vault — in gymnastics
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. capital — a city
  17. vault — an arched ceiling
  18. rush — a thrill
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. scale — in music
  22. scale — size or range
  23. bound — tied together
  24. ground — the earth

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