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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 120 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. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  20. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. That was ________________ to happen.
  24. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. chip — to eat
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. chip — in a computer
  5. track — a song
  6. land — to come down
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. bound — tied together
  10. bark — to shout
  11. bound — obliged
  12. land — ground
  13. wax — to grow
  14. track — a path
  15. land — a country
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. capital — a city
  19. track — to keep track
  20. stem — to come from
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. capital — money
  23. bound — certain
  24. chip — for betting

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