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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. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  2. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  21. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  22. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  23. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  24. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — a series
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. calf — of the leg
  7. mine — for digging
  8. rash — hasty
  9. branch — a division
  10. lash — a whip stroke
  11. perch — the fish
  12. content — happy
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. content — the amount
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. capital — a city
  18. capital — money
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. lash — to lash out
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. lash — an eyelash
  24. perch — for a bird

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