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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 116 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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. That must've been a ________________.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. mine — for digging
  3. bark — to shout
  4. prune — to trim
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. capital — a city
  7. rush — hurry
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. rush — a thrill
  10. prune — to trim
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. rush — to hurry
  13. capital — money
  14. tube — the underground
  15. degree — from a university
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. kick — a thrill
  18. tube — a container
  19. degree — an amount
  20. kick — in football
  21. degree — temperature
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. kick — with a leg
  24. mine — belonging to me

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