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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: spring · tube · branch · bay · capital · wave

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. My mare is ________________ in color.
  15. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. spring — a coil
  4. wave — of the sea
  5. tube — a container
  6. bay — a part of the sea
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. wave — with your hand
  9. tube — the underground
  10. spring — of water
  11. bay — to keep at bay
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. capital — money
  14. bay — a horse colour
  15. wave — a sudden rise
  16. spring — the season
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. 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