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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. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  10. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  23. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. capital — money
  3. chip — in a computer
  4. wound — an injury
  5. lean — thin
  6. cold — an illness
  7. board — a flat piece
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. chip — for betting
  10. board — to get on
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. capital — a city
  15. wound — an injury
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. fork — in a road
  19. branch — a division
  20. cold — not warm
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. chip — to eat
  23. board — a committee
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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