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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. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. The King held a masked ________________.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. The tickets are free of ________________.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. wound — an injury
  4. wound — an injury
  5. capital — a city
  6. hand — help
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. charge — electricity
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. bark — to shout
  11. ball — a round shape
  12. degree — temperature
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. degree — an amount
  15. ball — a dance
  16. hand — in cards
  17. charge — a price
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. snap — to click
  21. degree — from a university
  22. charge — in control
  23. capital — money
  24. capital — a big letter

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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