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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.

Make a worksheet

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. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. capital — money
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. mine — for digging
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. degree — an amount
  7. degree — temperature
  8. tube — the underground
  9. court — of law
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. ground — crushed
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. ground — a position
  14. ground — the earth
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. court — for sport
  18. degree — from a university
  19. capital — a city
  20. bark — to shout
  21. tube — a container
  22. court — of a king
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. chair — a leader

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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