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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. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. What do you think of the new ________________?
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. wound — an injury
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. capital — a city
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. capital — money
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. hand — in cards
  9. cabinet — a cupboard
  10. branch — a division
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. wound — an injury
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. hand — help
  15. cold — an illness
  16. spell — letters
  17. spell — a short time
  18. spell — magic
  19. squash — the sport
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. squash — to crush
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. cold — not warm
  24. branch — of a tree

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