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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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  19. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  20. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. swing — to play on
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. band — a ring
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. band — a music group
  11. content — happy
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. firm — a company
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. content — the amount
  16. capital — a city
  17. bark — to shout
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. fan — to cool the air
  20. firm — decided
  21. swing — in golf
  22. firm — steady
  23. capital — money
  24. swing — music

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