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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. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — a division
  2. ground — a position
  3. court — of a king
  4. bass — the instrument
  5. ground — crushed
  6. wave — a sudden rise
  7. court — of law
  8. fall — the season
  9. bass — the fish
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. trunk — of a car
  12. capital — money
  13. fall — to drop
  14. fall — to drop
  15. bass — low music
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. ground — the earth
  20. wave — with your hand
  21. capital — a city
  22. wave — of the sea
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. court — for sport

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