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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: squash · branch · bat · race · capital · snap · straw · pitch

  1. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — a division
  2. race — a contest
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. snap — to click
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. pitch — completely
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. capital — a city
  10. race — the arms race
  11. squash — to crush
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. bat — the animal
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. squash — the sport
  18. pitch — a sales talk
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. capital — money
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. race — humankind
  24. bat — for baseball

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