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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. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  20. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. spring — a coil
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. tear — from crying
  5. net — for catching
  6. mate — a partner
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. clip — to cut
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. bark — to shout
  11. tear — to rip
  12. capital — a city
  13. spring — of water
  14. mate — a friend
  15. net — after costs
  16. mate — to breed
  17. clip — for paper
  18. clip — a video
  19. bowl — a football final
  20. bowl — to roll
  21. capital — money
  22. bowl — a dish
  23. spring — the season
  24. tear — from crying

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