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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. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  20. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  21. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — of a tree
  2. court — for sport
  3. court — of a king
  4. pit — in a race
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. cap — a lid
  8. cap — of ice
  9. net — for catching
  10. face — to point toward
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. wound — an injury
  13. capital — a city
  14. net — in sport
  15. wound — an injury
  16. branch — a division
  17. pit — a hole
  18. court — of law
  19. cap — a hat
  20. face — to confront
  21. pit — a fruit stone
  22. capital — money
  23. net — after costs
  24. face — part of the head

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