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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. Did you ________________ the meat?
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. branch — of a bank
  3. degree — temperature
  4. spring — the season
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. branch — a division
  8. scale — size or range
  9. degree — an amount
  10. content — happy
  11. race — the arms race
  12. spring — of water
  13. season — in sport
  14. capital — a city
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. season — to add flavour
  17. degree — from a university
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. scale — in music
  20. content — the amount
  21. race — a contest
  22. capital — money
  23. season — of the year
  24. race — humankind

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