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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  3. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  4. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  17. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. object — an aim
  3. object — a thing
  4. firm — a company
  5. field — farmland
  6. staff — employees
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. bark — to shout
  9. staff — a stick
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. firm — decided
  12. field — a subject
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. field — for sport
  15. rash — a series
  16. staff — employees
  17. object — to protest
  18. capital — money
  19. firm — steady
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. rash — hasty
  22. capital — a city
  23. shower — rain
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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