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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'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  2. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  24. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — steady
  2. spell — magic
  3. drill — army training
  4. clip — to cut
  5. leaves — of a tree
  6. spell — letters
  7. leaves — to go away
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. drill — the tool
  10. bark — to shout
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. shower — rain
  13. capital — money
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. spell — a short time
  17. shower — to wash
  18. firm — decided
  19. capital — a city
  20. clip — a video
  21. drill — a practice
  22. clip — for paper
  23. leaves — lets stay
  24. firm — a company

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