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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. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  4. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. I'll be taking the ________________.
  16. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  17. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. What do you think of the new ________________?
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — a division
  2. capital — a city
  3. toast — a drink to someone
  4. firm — steady
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. toast — the most admired
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. tube — a container
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. wind — moving air
  12. toast — bread
  13. clip — to cut
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. tube — the underground
  16. firm — decided
  17. cabinet — a cupboard
  18. capital — money
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. clip — a video
  21. clip — for paper
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. wind — moving air
  24. firm — a company

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