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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. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  10. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  24. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. bear — the animal
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. capital — money
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. bear — the animal
  10. bear — to put up with
  11. game — a match
  12. face — to point toward
  13. capital — a city
  14. game — wild animals
  15. bat — the animal
  16. face — to confront
  17. firm — decided
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. face — part of the head
  20. patient — calm and waiting
  21. bark — to shout
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. firm — steady
  24. firm — a company

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