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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. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  22. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. staff — a stick
  3. hand — in cards
  4. mine — for digging
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. can — to be able to
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. fine — all right
  10. capital — money
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. can — a tin
  13. content — happy
  14. bark — to shout
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. staff — employees
  17. content — the amount
  18. fine — a penalty
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. hand — help
  21. can — a tin
  22. fine — high quality
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. staff — employees

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