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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. Have you found your soul ________________?
  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. capital — a city
  2. ground — crushed
  3. perch — the fish
  4. mate — to breed
  5. spell — a short time
  6. track — a song
  7. ground — the earth
  8. track — to keep track
  9. spell — magic
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. mate — a friend
  13. mine — for digging
  14. capital — money
  15. branch — a division
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. spell — letters
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. ground — a position
  21. track — a path
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. mate — a partner
  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