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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. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  4. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  11. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  12. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. My father caught me by the ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. last — finally
  3. lash — a whip stroke
  4. bank — of a river
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. wind — moving air
  8. lash — an eyelash
  9. last — to go on
  10. bank — for money
  11. bank — for money
  12. arm — a part of something
  13. wind — moving air
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. lash — to lash out
  16. capital — money
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. branch — a division
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. last — final
  22. capital — a city
  23. branch — of a bank
  24. mine — for digging

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