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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: capital · degree · mine · perch · branch · wake · date · club

  1. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  13. Have you settled on a ________________?
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  20. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. branch — a division
  3. club — for dancing
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. degree — from a university
  8. mine — for digging
  9. capital — money
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. degree — an amount
  12. date — the fruit
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. wake — a trail
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. perch — the fish
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. club — for golf
  20. club — a group
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. degree — temperature
  23. capital — a city
  24. perch — for a bird

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