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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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  10. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  11. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  21. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. branch — of a tree
  2. capital — money
  3. bowl — to roll
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. chip — for betting
  10. bowl — a football final
  11. chip — in a computer
  12. cold — an illness
  13. bowl — a dish
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. face — part of the head
  16. face — to confront
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. capital — a city
  19. face — to point toward
  20. branch — a division
  21. chip — to eat
  22. cold — not warm
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. sharp — clever

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