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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 120 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. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. Have you found your soul ________________?
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  21. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  22. The ________________ market has crashed.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. spring — a coil
  4. capital — a city
  5. mate — to breed
  6. current — of water
  7. spring — of water
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. current — happening now
  10. spring — the season
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. mate — a friend
  13. bat — the animal
  14. current — electric
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. mate — a partner
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. trunk — of an elephant
  21. branch — a division
  22. stock — shares
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. stock — goods

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