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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. Have you met the new head ________________?
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. content — happy
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. capital — money
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. content — the amount
  10. scale — size or range
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. scale — in music
  15. capital — a city
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. bark — to shout

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