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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: clip · bank · lean · pitcher · cap · capital · branch · court

  1. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a lid
  2. cap — a hat
  3. capital — a city
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. clip — to cut
  6. lean — thin
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. bank — for money
  10. court — of law
  11. bank — of a river
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. court — of a king
  15. lean — to bend
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. court — for sport
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. branch — a division
  20. bank — for money
  21. capital — money
  22. clip — a video
  23. cap — of ice
  24. clip — for paper

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