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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: ball · branch · kid · bear · chest · capital · date · rule

  1. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. The King held a masked ________________.
  6. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  12. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  13. Have you settled on a ________________?
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  24. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. rule — government
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. kid — to tease
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. ball — a dance
  6. bear — the animal
  7. branch — a division
  8. bear — the animal
  9. kid — child
  10. chest — of your body
  11. rule — a law
  12. ball — a round shape
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. capital — a city
  15. date — the fruit
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. capital — money
  18. rule — to rule out
  19. chest — a box
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. ball — a great time
  22. chest — of your body
  23. bear — to put up with
  24. date — on the calendar

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