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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. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  2. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  6. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. She's very handy with a ________________.
  16. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  17. That was ________________ to happen.
  18. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  19. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  20. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. present — the time now
  2. present — there
  3. bore — gave birth
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. bore — to tire
  6. chip — in a computer
  7. capital — a city
  8. cold — an illness
  9. capital — money
  10. saw — the tool
  11. cold — not warm
  12. bore — to drill
  13. bound — tied together
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. saw — the tool
  16. chip — to eat
  17. bound — certain
  18. chip — for betting
  19. present — a gift
  20. saw — past of 'see'
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. bound — obliged
  24. branch — a division

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