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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 120 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. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. That was ________________ to happen.
  7. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  16. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  17. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  22. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — of a bank
  2. capital — money
  3. tube — a container
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. cold — not warm
  6. bound — certain
  7. branch — of a tree
  8. tube — the underground
  9. game — a match
  10. capital — a city
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. game — wild animals
  13. field — a subject
  14. cold — an illness
  15. wave — a sudden rise
  16. wave — of the sea
  17. bound — tied together
  18. field — farmland
  19. branch — a division
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. bound — obliged
  22. wave — with your hand
  23. field — for sport
  24. capital — a big letter

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