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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. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. Did you ________________ the meat?
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  20. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — a permit
  2. cold — not warm
  3. capital — a city
  4. season — of the year
  5. capital — money
  6. cold — an illness
  7. branch — a division
  8. pound — a weight
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. stem — to come from
  12. pass — to spend time
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. season — to add flavour
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. season — in sport
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. pound — for dogs
  20. pass — to succeed
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. pound — to hit hard
  24. cold — the Cold War

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