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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 116 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's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  5. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  11. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  17. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. rule — a law
  3. capital — a city
  4. craft — a skill
  5. rule — to rule out
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. field — for sport
  10. craft — a handicraft
  11. rule — government
  12. branch — a division
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. craft — boats
  17. lash — an eyelash
  18. shower — rain
  19. mine — for digging
  20. lash — a whip stroke
  21. capital — money
  22. field — a subject
  23. lash — to lash out
  24. field — farmland

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