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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 valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  17. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. object — a thing
  2. capital — a city
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. ground — a position
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. march — the month
  9. ground — the earth
  10. march — the month
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. capital — money
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. ground — crushed
  16. fan — to cool the air
  17. object — to protest
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. snap — to click
  20. wound — an injury
  21. object — an aim
  22. march — music
  23. wound — an injury
  24. branch — a division

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