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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. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  9. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  10. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. I'll be taking the ________________.
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  18. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  19. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  20. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  23. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. capital — a city
  5. stock — goods
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. stock — shares
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. lie — an untruth
  10. bowl — a dish
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. wax — to grow
  14. bark — to shout
  15. tube — the underground
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. lie — to recline
  18. bowl — to roll
  19. bowl — a football final
  20. tube — a container
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. rock — to move gently
  23. rock — a stone
  24. capital — money

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