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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. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. Have you met the new head ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. wave — with your hand
  2. capital — a city
  3. cue — a hint
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. wave — of the sea
  6. cold — not warm
  7. cue — for pool
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. land — ground
  10. capital — money
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. wave — a sudden rise
  13. branch — a division
  14. cue — a signal
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. land — to come down
  17. land — a country
  18. coach — pulled by horses
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. cold — an illness
  21. mine — for digging
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. coach — a trainer

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