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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 old man leaned on his ________________.
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  7. My father caught me by the ________________.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  11. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  12. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. We're on a ________________ here.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  21. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  24. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — a stick
  2. bark — to shout
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. capital — money
  5. kid — child
  6. roll — a cake
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. capital — a city
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. lie — an untruth
  12. staff — employees
  13. shower — to wash
  14. shower — rain
  15. roll — a list
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. roll — on a roll
  18. kid — to tease
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. arm — a part of something
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. staff — employees
  24. lie — to recline

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