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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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. I can't ________________ this cold.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. dip — to sink
  5. net — after costs
  6. bark — to shout
  7. dip — to dunk
  8. chest — a box
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. net — in sport
  12. wound — an injury
  13. stand — on your feet
  14. mine — for digging
  15. net — for catching
  16. dip — a sauce
  17. chest — of your body
  18. stand — to bear
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. capital — a city
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. wound — an injury
  23. chest — of your body
  24. stand — for spectators

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