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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 116 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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  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. capital — a city
  2. land — a country
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. wind — moving air
  6. land — to come down
  7. capital — money
  8. wind — moving air
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. chip — in a computer
  11. land — ground
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. chip — to eat
  14. squash — to crush
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. chip — for betting
  17. squash — the sport
  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