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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 120 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. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  2. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  3. When will it ________________ you to start?
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  21. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. suit — in cards
  2. branch — of a bank
  3. suit — to fit
  4. wound — an injury
  5. cell — a phone
  6. wound — an injury
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. stick — a piece of wood
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. cell — in biology
  12. suit — clothes
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. branch — a division
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. stick — a piece of wood
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. capital — money
  19. capital — a city
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. stick — to attach or keep to
  22. cold — an illness
  23. cold — not warm
  24. pitcher — a jug

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