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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. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  2. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. Where did you ________________ them?
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  10. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  11. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  21. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — government
  2. mug — a face
  3. capital — a city
  4. mug — a cup
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. mug — to rob
  7. spell — letters
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. jam — a tight spot
  10. jam — to spread on bread
  11. rule — a law
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. bass — the fish
  14. branch — a division
  15. rule — to rule out
  16. wound — an injury
  17. bass — low music
  18. spell — a short time
  19. wound — an injury
  20. jam — in traffic
  21. branch — of a tree
  22. capital — money
  23. spell — magic
  24. capital — a big letter

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