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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. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. The ________________ market has crashed.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — a trail
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. branch — of a bank
  4. march — the month
  5. face — to confront
  6. cold — not warm
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. stock — goods
  9. capital — money
  10. face — part of the head
  11. face — to point toward
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. march — music
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. cold — an illness
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. branch — a division
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. capital — a city
  23. march — the month
  24. stock — shares

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