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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: capital · branch · race · tube · cell · shower · fan · snap

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. shower — to wash
  3. race — the arms race
  4. capital — money
  5. cell — a phone
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. fan — to cool the air
  8. shower — rain
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. tube — the underground
  11. tube — a container
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. cell — in biology
  14. race — humankind
  15. snap — to click
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. race — a contest
  22. branch — a division
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. branch — of a bank

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