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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 120 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 beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  7. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  10. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  11. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  18. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  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. capital — a big letter
  2. net — in sport
  3. bark — to shout
  4. net — for catching
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. fine — all right
  7. fine — high quality
  8. hand — in cards
  9. stem — of a plant
  10. fine — a penalty
  11. craft — a skill
  12. sharp — clever
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. net — after costs
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. craft — a handicraft
  18. craft — boats
  19. capital — a city
  20. stem — to come from
  21. capital — money
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. sharp — with an edge
  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