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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. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  2. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  3. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  6. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. Have you settled on a ________________?
  13. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  14. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  15. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. We're on a ________________ here.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a cake
  2. bore — to tire
  3. bear — the animal
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. bear — the animal
  6. bear — to put up with
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. date — the fruit
  9. branch — a division
  10. roll — a list
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. bore — to drill
  14. bore — gave birth
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. scale — size or range
  18. scale — in music
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. capital — a city
  21. roll — on a roll
  22. capital — money
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. branch — of a tree

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