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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. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. What do you think of the new ________________?
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. capital — money
  3. branch — of a tree
  4. last — final
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. branch — a division
  7. cabinet — a cupboard
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. land — a country
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. spell — magic
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. spell — letters
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. content — happy
  16. land — to come down
  17. kick — in football
  18. content — the amount
  19. capital — a city
  20. land — ground
  21. last — finally
  22. last — to go on
  23. kick — a thrill
  24. spell — a short time

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