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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. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  2. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  3. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  14. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  15. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — to pay attention
  2. pound — a weight
  3. branch — of a bank
  4. wind — moving air
  5. pound — to hit hard
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. shower — rain
  9. branch — a division
  10. shower — to wash
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. mark — a trace
  14. mark — a grade
  15. pound — for dogs
  16. capital — a city
  17. capital — money
  18. snap — to click
  19. wind — moving air
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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