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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 120 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 don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. spell — letters
  3. spring — the season
  4. capital — a city
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. branch — of a tree
  8. branch — a division
  9. spring — of water
  10. saw — the tool
  11. spell — a short time
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. branch — of a bank
  14. snap — to click
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. staff — a stick
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. saw — the tool
  19. spring — a coil
  20. staff — employees
  21. capital — money
  22. staff — employees
  23. spell — magic
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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