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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. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  21. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  22. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — to pay attention
  2. bark — to shout
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. perch — the fish
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. capital — money
  7. mark — a grade
  8. rash — a series
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. cap — a lid
  11. capital — a city
  12. wind — moving air
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. rash — hasty
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. wind — moving air
  19. spring — the season
  20. cap — a hat
  21. cap — of ice
  22. mark — a trace
  23. spring — of water
  24. spring — a coil

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