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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: capital · bore · calf · spell · field · branch · bass · drill

  1. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. spell — magic
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. capital — money
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. field — a subject
  7. branch — a division
  8. drill — a practice
  9. bore — to tire
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. bore — to drill
  12. drill — army training
  13. spell — letters
  14. calf — of the leg
  15. bass — the fish
  16. drill — the tool
  17. spell — a short time
  18. bore — gave birth
  19. capital — a city
  20. field — farmland
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. field — for sport
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. branch — of a tree

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