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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 116 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. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  2. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  3. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  4. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  5. The ________________ went through the wall.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  10. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — on a finger
  2. branch — of a bank
  3. bear — to put up with
  4. bank — for money
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. land — ground
  7. clip — to cut
  8. spring — a coil
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. bank — for money
  11. spring — of water
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. capital — a city
  14. clip — for paper
  15. bear — the animal
  16. capital — money
  17. bear — the animal
  18. land — to come down
  19. branch — a division
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. land — a country
  22. bank — of a river
  23. clip — a video
  24. spring — the season

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