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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. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  2. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  3. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  4. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — a trail
  2. bear — the animal
  3. branch — a division
  4. bear — the animal
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. cold — an illness
  8. last — final
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. dip — to sink
  11. cold — not warm
  12. dip — a sauce
  13. last — finally
  14. capital — a city
  15. dip — to dunk
  16. last — to go on
  17. wake — before a funeral
  18. content — the amount
  19. bear — to put up with
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. content — happy
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. capital — money
  24. branch — of a tree

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