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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. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. spring — a coil
  3. cell — in biology
  4. last — to go on
  5. capital — a city
  6. wave — a sudden rise
  7. chest — of your body
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. mouse — the animal
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. last — finally
  12. chest — of your body
  13. spring — of water
  14. bark — to shout
  15. mouse — for a computer
  16. last — final
  17. chest — a box
  18. wave — of the sea
  19. cell — a phone
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. spring — the season
  22. mouse — the animal
  23. capital — money
  24. wave — with your hand

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