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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  4. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  5. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  6. This piece is in a major ________________.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. capital — money
  3. branch — of a tree
  4. key — for a lock
  5. fan — to cool the air
  6. key — in music
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. present — there
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. branch — a division
  11. cold — not warm
  12. cold — an illness
  13. scale — in music
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. present — the time now
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. key — the most important part
  20. scale — size or range
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. present — a gift

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