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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. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  5. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  6. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. The ________________ went through the wall.
  18. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  19. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  20. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  21. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. I play ________________ in a jazz band.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. branch — of a tree
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. season — of the year
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. season — in sport
  7. cap — a hat
  8. capital — a city
  9. cap — a lid
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. cold — an illness
  12. nail — on a finger
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. cold — not warm
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. bass — the fish
  19. patient — calm and waiting
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. cap — of ice
  22. branch — a division
  23. capital — money
  24. bass — the instrument

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