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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. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. That was ________________ to happen.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. That must've been a ________________.
  11. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  16. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  17. Have you met the new head ________________?
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. I'll be taking the ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. You shouldn't ________________ things.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. bound — certain
  3. capital — money
  4. rush — hurry
  5. capital — a city
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. wound — an injury
  8. wound — an injury
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. rush — a thrill
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. branch — a division
  13. cold — not warm
  14. cold — an illness
  15. bound — obliged
  16. bound — tied together
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. tube — the underground
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. tube — in a tire
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. rush — to hurry

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