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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. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  16. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  17. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  20. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. wound — an injury
  3. object — to protest
  4. scale — in music
  5. capital — a city
  6. court — of a king
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. scale — size or range
  11. capital — money
  12. branch — a division
  13. rash — a series
  14. court — of law
  15. object — an aim
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. mouse — for a computer
  18. wound — an injury
  19. mouse — the animal
  20. object — a thing
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. court — for sport
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. scale — for weighing

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