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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. Did you ________________ the meat?
  6. You don't need to ________________ round.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  9. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. We're almost out of ________________.
  18. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. safe — a strongbox
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. season — to add flavour
  6. pop — to visit
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. safe — out of danger
  9. season — of the year
  10. branch — a division
  11. safe — out of danger
  12. pop — music
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. band — a ring
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. bark — to shout
  17. pop — soda
  18. season — in sport
  19. band — a music group
  20. capital — a city
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. capital — money
  23. branch — of a bank
  24. branch — of a tree

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