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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: fan · capital · bat · craft · ground · kick · branch · fall

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  3. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  20. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. craft — boats
  3. branch — of a tree
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. ground — crushed
  8. branch — a division
  9. kick — in football
  10. ground — the earth
  11. capital — money
  12. fan — to cool the air
  13. fall — to drop
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. fall — the season
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. fall — to drop
  19. craft — a skill
  20. craft — a handicraft
  21. capital — a city
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. ground — a position

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