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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. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  9. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. spell — a short time
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. track — to keep track
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. branch — a division
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. drill — the tool
  9. track — a path
  10. capital — a city
  11. spell — magic
  12. scale — size or range
  13. track — a song
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. cell — in biology
  17. drill — army training
  18. capital — money
  19. spell — letters
  20. scale — in music
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. scale — for weighing
  23. drill — a practice
  24. cell — a phone

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