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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. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  4. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  5. That was ________________ to happen.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  11. My father caught me by the ________________.
  12. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  24. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. shower — rain
  3. root — of a plant
  4. branch — a division
  5. bound — certain
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. branch — of a tree
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. spring — a coil
  10. bound — obliged
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. perch — the fish
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. spring — the season
  15. bound — tied together
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. capital — a city
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. root — the cause
  20. spring — of water
  21. shower — to wash
  22. capital — money
  23. root — of a word
  24. arm — a part of something

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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