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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: capital · branch · race · tube · cell · shower

  1. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. 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 — a big letter
  2. tube — the underground
  3. capital — a city
  4. race — humankind
  5. race — the arms race
  6. branch — a division
  7. race — a contest
  8. cell — in biology
  9. tube — a container
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. capital — money
  13. cell — a phone
  14. shower — rain
  15. shower — to wash
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. 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