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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: mark · chest · capital · pound · calf · prune · land · branch

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  3. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  14. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  17. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  24. He had ________________ pain while walking.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. mark — to pay attention
  3. pound — for dogs
  4. land — to come down
  5. capital — money
  6. mark — a trace
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. prune — to trim
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. chest — of your body
  11. chest — of your body
  12. prune — to trim
  13. mark — a grade
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. chest — a box
  16. pound — a weight
  17. pound — to hit hard
  18. land — a country
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. land — ground
  22. branch — a division
  23. branch — of a bank
  24. calf — of the leg

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