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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  3. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. Have you settled on a ________________?
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  10. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  11. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  12. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  13. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  14. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  15. We're on a ________________ here.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  22. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. race — the arms race
  4. race — humankind
  5. branch — a division
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. bat — the animal
  9. roll — a list
  10. toast — bread
  11. toast — the most admired
  12. toast — a drink to someone
  13. track — a path
  14. date — the fruit
  15. roll — on a roll
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. track — to keep track
  18. race — a contest
  19. track — a song
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. roll — a cake
  22. branch — of a tree
  23. capital — money
  24. bat — in an idiom

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