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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: capital · lean · land · mark · kid · tear · saw · branch

  1. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  2. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  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. mark — a trace
  2. mark — to pay attention
  3. land — ground
  4. lean — thin
  5. kid — child
  6. saw — the tool
  7. tear — to rip
  8. mark — a grade
  9. branch — a division
  10. saw — the tool
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. tear — from crying
  15. kid — to tease
  16. capital — money
  17. lean — to bend
  18. tear — from crying
  19. lean — to rest against
  20. capital — a city
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. land — to come down
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  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