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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 116 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 potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  18. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. Should I buy a wireless ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. chip — to eat
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. wound — an injury
  4. bore — to tire
  5. field — a subject
  6. bark — to shout
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. file — a tool
  9. chip — in a computer
  10. capital — money
  11. capital — a city
  12. mouse — the animal
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. mouse — the animal
  15. field — for sport
  16. file — a document
  17. bore — to drill
  18. bore — gave birth
  19. wound — an injury
  20. field — farmland
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. chip — for betting
  23. file — a line of people
  24. mouse — for a computer

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