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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. Have you met the new head ________________?
  17. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  21. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  22. What do you think of the new ________________?
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. wind — moving air
  4. rock — to move gently
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. bark — to shout
  7. coach — pulled by horses
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. rock — music
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. cabinet — a cupboard
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. wind — moving air
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. capital — money
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. rock — a stone
  18. wake — a trail
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. bark — of a tree

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