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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. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  2. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. The King held a masked ________________.
  19. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  22. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — to put up with
  2. ball — a round shape
  3. ground — crushed
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. last — to go on
  6. club — for dancing
  7. last — finally
  8. ball — a great time
  9. ground — the earth
  10. cold — not warm
  11. capital — a city
  12. cold — an illness
  13. branch — a division
  14. capital — money
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. ball — a dance
  19. bear — the animal
  20. ground — a position
  21. bear — the animal
  22. club — for golf
  23. last — final
  24. club — a group

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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