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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: bat · bowl · hand · capital · can · wind · branch · track

  1. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  2. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  3. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  14. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  15. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  21. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. can — to be able to
  2. branch — of a tree
  3. track — a path
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. wind — moving air
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. bowl — to roll
  8. branch — a division
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. bat — the animal
  13. track — to keep track
  14. can — a tin
  15. bowl — a football final
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. hand — in cards
  18. capital — a city
  19. capital — money
  20. bowl — a dish
  21. can — a tin
  22. wind — moving air
  23. track — a song
  24. hand — help

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