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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 120 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: wound · drill · branch · nail · court · mate · track · capital

  1. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  6. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  7. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. The ________________ went through the wall.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. Have you found your soul ________________?
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  22. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. court — of a king
  4. drill — the tool
  5. nail — on a finger
  6. mate — to breed
  7. track — a song
  8. wound — an injury
  9. court — of law
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. branch — a division
  14. capital — money
  15. court — for sport
  16. drill — army training
  17. mate — a partner
  18. drill — a practice
  19. track — to keep track
  20. wound — an injury
  21. track — a path
  22. branch — of a tree
  23. capital — a city
  24. capital — a big letter

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