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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. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. Have you met the new head ________________?
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  12. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  13. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  14. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. branch — a division
  3. snap — to click
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. bore — to tire
  6. capital — a city
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. capital — money
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. bowl — to roll
  12. bore — to drill
  13. bowl — a football final
  14. bore — gave birth
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. content — the amount
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. wind — moving air
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. bowl — a dish
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. content — happy
  24. content — videos and posts

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