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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. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. Have you settled on a ________________?
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  9. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  18. When was this ________________ built?
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  24. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?

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

Answer key

  1. date — the fruit
  2. capital — a city
  3. spell — letters
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. capital — money
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. prune — to trim
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. spell — a short time
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. prune — to trim
  13. cap — of ice
  14. temple — side of the head
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. present — a gift
  17. branch — a division
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. spell — magic
  20. present — the time now
  21. present — there
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. cap — a hat
  24. cap — a lid

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