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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
468
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: rest · race · pitcher · mine · capital · spell · branch · perch

  1. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  11. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. branch — of a tree
  4. spell — a short time
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. rest — what's left
  9. spell — letters
  10. rest — a break
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. mine — for digging
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. rest — what's left
  16. branch — a division
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. capital — money
  20. capital — a city
  21. race — a contest
  22. race — the arms race
  23. race — humankind
  24. spell — magic

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