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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 116 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. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  4. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Have you found your soul ________________?
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  18. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  24. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. spring — of water
  3. branch — of a tree
  4. craft — a handicraft
  5. mate — to breed
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. capital — a city
  8. craft — boats
  9. capital — money
  10. spring — a coil
  11. march — the month
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. cold — not warm
  14. mate — a partner
  15. march — the month
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. craft — a skill
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. spring — the season
  20. march — music
  21. cold — an illness
  22. mate — a friend
  23. branch — a division
  24. hide — animal skin

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