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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. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. Have you found your soul ________________?
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  19. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  20. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  21. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. can — a tin
  4. field — farmland
  5. bat — the animal
  6. field — for sport
  7. hide — animal skin
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. capital — a city
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. clip — for paper
  12. mate — a friend
  13. clip — a video
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. mate — a partner
  16. capital — money
  17. clip — to cut
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. can — to be able to
  21. mate — to breed
  22. bark — to shout
  23. field — a subject
  24. can — a tin

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