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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: branch · bulb · capital · ground · wind · wake · saw · land

  1. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. I've got to change the light ________________.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. The light ________________ burned out.
  20. She's very handy with a ________________.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. bulb — for light
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. land — ground
  5. ground — a position
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. bulb — of a plant
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. wind — moving air
  12. ground — the earth
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. capital — money
  15. land — to come down
  16. branch — a division
  17. capital — a city
  18. ground — crushed
  19. bulb — for light
  20. saw — the tool
  21. wake — a trail
  22. saw — the tool
  23. wind — moving air
  24. land — a country

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