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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. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  17. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. Have you found your soul ________________?
  22. I'll be taking the ________________.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. bear — the animal
  3. capital — money
  4. ground — crushed
  5. spring — of water
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. branch — of a tree
  8. ground — a position
  9. file — a document
  10. mate — to breed
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. capital — a city
  13. spring — a coil
  14. bear — the animal
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. bear — to put up with
  17. mate — a friend
  18. file — a tool
  19. spring — the season
  20. ground — the earth
  21. mate — a partner
  22. tube — the underground
  23. file — a line of people
  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