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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. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. We're on a ________________ here.
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. bark — to shout
  4. capital — money
  5. roll — a list
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. fall — the season
  9. kid — child
  10. stock — shares
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. kid — to tease
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. capital — a city
  16. roll — on a roll
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. fall — to drop
  20. fork — in a road
  21. stock — goods
  22. wax — to grow
  23. roll — a cake
  24. bark — of a tree

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