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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. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  20. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. My father caught me by the ________________.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. branch — of a tree
  3. spring — the season
  4. spring — a coil
  5. sharp — clever
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. capital — a city
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. perch — the fish
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. wind — moving air
  17. stick — to attach or keep to
  18. spring — of water
  19. stick — a piece of wood
  20. branch — a division
  21. capital — money
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. wind — moving air
  24. arm — a part of something

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