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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. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  14. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  15. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. capital — money
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. patient — calm and waiting
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. trunk — of a tree
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. rock — a stone
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. branch — a division
  11. rock — music
  12. spring — of water
  13. rock — to move gently
  14. club — for golf
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. spring — a coil
  17. capital — a city
  18. club — a group
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. trunk — of an elephant
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. spring — the season
  24. club — for dancing

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