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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. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  17. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  18. Have you settled on a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. bark — to shout
  3. leaves — of a tree
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. leaves — to go away
  6. net — after costs
  7. date — the fruit
  8. capital — money
  9. net — for catching
  10. capital — a city
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. cap — a lid
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. net — in sport
  15. cap — a hat
  16. leaves — lets stay
  17. cap — of ice
  18. 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