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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  6. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  10. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  22. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  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. capital — a city
  2. spell — letters
  3. bank — for money
  4. bass — low music
  5. cue — a signal
  6. cue — a hint
  7. scale — in music
  8. snap — to click
  9. bank — of a river
  10. cue — for pool
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. branch — a division
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. spell — a short time
  16. bass — the fish
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. capital — money
  20. spell — magic
  21. bank — for money
  22. bass — the instrument
  23. scale — size or range
  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