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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 120 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. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. You don't need to ________________ round.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  22. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. branch — a division
  3. capital — money
  4. pop — to visit
  5. drill — the tool
  6. sharp — clever
  7. capital — a city
  8. pop — music
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. track — a path
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. drill — a practice
  13. net — for catching
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. band — a music group
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. net — in sport
  19. pop — soda
  20. net — after costs
  21. track — to keep track
  22. track — a song
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. drill — army training

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