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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: spring · trunk · fan · capital · mate · pop · tear · branch

  1. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. Have you found your soul ________________?
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  20. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  21. You don't need to ________________ round.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. We're almost out of ________________.
  24. I've got the luggage in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. mate — to breed
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. mate — a friend
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. tear — from crying
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. spring — of water
  11. branch — a division
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. tear — from crying
  14. mate — a partner
  15. capital — a city
  16. fan — to cool the air
  17. spring — the season
  18. tear — to rip
  19. pop — music
  20. trunk — of an elephant
  21. pop — to visit
  22. capital — money
  23. pop — soda
  24. trunk — of a car

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