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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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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: cue · temple · capital · can · cold · branch · clip · deal

  1. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. When was this ________________ built?
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  18. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  19. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  22. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  24. Recycle the empty soda ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — of a tree
  2. cold — an illness
  3. cue — a signal
  4. clip — a video
  5. can — a tin
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. deal — an agreement
  8. clip — for paper
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. capital — money
  11. temple — a place of worship
  12. capital — a city
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. cue — for pool
  16. clip — to cut
  17. deal — a big deal
  18. can — to be able to
  19. deal — to handle
  20. cold — not warm
  21. cue — a hint
  22. temple — side of the head
  23. branch — a division
  24. can — a tin

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