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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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  4. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. Have you settled on a ________________?
  9. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  22. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  23. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. band — a music group
  3. bear — the animal
  4. date — the fruit
  5. band — a ring
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. bear — the animal
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. capital — a city
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. branch — a division
  14. capital — money
  15. craft — boats
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. craft — a handicraft
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. bear — to put up with
  22. craft — a skill
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. band — a rubber band

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