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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. Have you settled on a ________________?
  2. The ________________ went through the wall.
  3. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  17. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. She's very handy with a ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. saw — past of 'see'
  4. band — a ring
  5. saw — the tool
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. capital — money
  9. cold — an illness
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. nail — on a finger
  15. band — a music group
  16. date — the fruit
  17. branch — a division
  18. wake — to stop sleeping
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. wake — a trail
  21. capital — a city
  22. cold — not warm
  23. saw — the tool
  24. cold — the Cold War

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