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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  5. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  8. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. Did you ________________ the button?
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  16. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  23. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  24. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. fall — to drop
  4. leaves — lets stay
  5. branch — of a tree
  6. bat — the animal
  7. bowl — to roll
  8. leaves — to go away
  9. branch — a division
  10. press — to push
  11. fall — the season
  12. prune — to trim
  13. leaves — of a tree
  14. prune — to trim
  15. press — newspapers
  16. bowl — a football final
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. capital — money
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. fall — to drop
  23. branch — of a bank
  24. press — a publisher

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