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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. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  2. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  10. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. The King held a masked ________________.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the fish
  2. ball — a round shape
  3. capital — money
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. pit — in a race
  7. fall — to drop
  8. fall — to drop
  9. pit — a fruit stone
  10. pit — a hole
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. ball — a great time
  14. branch — a division
  15. ball — a dance
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. file — a tool
  18. file — a document
  19. capital — a city
  20. snap — to click
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. bass — low music
  23. fall — the season
  24. file — a line of people

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