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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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  12. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. branch — a division
  7. spell — letters
  8. capital — a city
  9. tear — from crying
  10. tear — to rip
  11. bowl — a football final
  12. bowl — a dish
  13. sharp — clever
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. spell — a short time
  16. bowl — to roll
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. tear — from crying
  19. hide — animal skin
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. bat — the animal
  22. spell — magic
  23. branch — of a bank
  24. branch — of a tree

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