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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  10. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  18. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. Should I buy a wireless ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. perch — the fish
  3. racket — a loud noise
  4. bark — to shout
  5. rule — government
  6. shower — rain
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. spell — letters
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. shower — to wash
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. rule — a law
  16. spell — magic
  17. rule — to rule out
  18. mouse — the animal
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. mouse — the animal
  22. spell — a short time
  23. capital — money
  24. mouse — for a computer

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