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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 124 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. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  2. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. Have you found your soul ________________?
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  18. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  21. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — of a tree
  2. drill — the tool
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. tear — from crying
  6. degree — an amount
  7. mate — a partner
  8. drill — a practice
  9. capital — money
  10. drill — army training
  11. degree — temperature
  12. kid — child
  13. degree — from a university
  14. kid — to tease
  15. capital — a city
  16. tear — to rip
  17. mate — a friend
  18. pitch — a sports field
  19. tear — from crying
  20. mate — to breed
  21. branch — a division
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. pitch — completely
  24. pitch — a sales talk

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