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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. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. That must've been a ________________.
  19. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  20. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. wound — an injury
  3. land — ground
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. rush — to hurry
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. rest — a break
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. wound — an injury
  11. capital — a city
  12. sharp — clever
  13. capital — money
  14. bark — to shout
  15. fall — to drop
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. fall — the season
  18. rush — a thrill
  19. rest — what's left
  20. rest — what's left
  21. land — to come down
  22. rush — hurry
  23. fall — to drop
  24. land — a country

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