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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. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. You don't need to ________________ round.
  14. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  23. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  24. Boris sat near the fire ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. kid — child
  5. kid — to tease
  6. pop — soda
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. pit — in a race
  11. perch — the fish
  12. capital — money
  13. pop — to visit
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. object — a thing
  17. pop — music
  18. hand — in cards
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. branch — a division
  21. hand — help
  22. object — an aim
  23. object — to protest
  24. pit — a hole

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