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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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  16. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  20. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. mark — a grade
  3. clip — a video
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. capital — money
  7. mark — to pay attention
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. drill — a practice
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. branch — a division
  12. drill — army training
  13. mark — a trace
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. bowl — a football final
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. clip — to cut
  18. sharp — clever
  19. bowl — to roll
  20. calf — of the leg
  21. drill — the tool
  22. clip — for paper
  23. capital — a city
  24. sharp — exactly

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