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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. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. Did you ________________ the button?
  5. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. The ________________ took off on time.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  20. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  21. The tickets are free of ________________.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.

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

Answer key

  1. bank — for money
  2. spell — letters
  3. spell — magic
  4. press — to push
  5. plane — in geometry
  6. spell — a short time
  7. cold — an illness
  8. bank — for money
  9. cold — not warm
  10. bank — of a river
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. plane — an aircraft
  14. capital — money
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. charge — in control
  17. capital — a city
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. press — a publisher
  20. charge — electricity
  21. charge — a price
  22. fork — in a road
  23. press — newspapers
  24. plane — a tool

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