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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 drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  8. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. The ________________ went through the wall.
  15. When was this ________________ built?
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  18. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — for a hammer
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. kick — in football
  4. shower — rain
  5. shower — to wash
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. kick — with a leg
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. capital — a city
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. field — farmland
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. temple — a place of worship
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. nail — on a finger
  18. kick — a thrill
  19. capital — money
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. field — for sport
  22. branch — a division
  23. temple — side of the head
  24. field — a subject

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