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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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. The flowers bloom in 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. row — a quarrel
  2. current — electric
  3. snap — to click
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. spring — of water
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. scale — in music
  8. row — to paddle
  9. scale — size or range
  10. row — a line
  11. current — happening now
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. calf — a young animal
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. branch — a division
  17. capital — money
  18. current — of water
  19. capital — a city
  20. calf — of the leg
  21. spring — a coil
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. spring — the season
  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