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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. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  16. Did you ________________ the meat?
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. Spring is a pleasant ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. present — there
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. present — the time now
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. capital — a city
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. file — a document
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. tear — to rip
  10. file — a tool
  11. capital — money
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. season — in sport
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. present — a gift
  16. season — to add flavour
  17. scale — size or range
  18. file — a line of people
  19. branch — a division
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. tear — from crying
  22. tear — from crying
  23. scale — in music
  24. season — of the year

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