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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. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. The ________________ market has crashed.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  19. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. board — to get on
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. capital — money
  4. stock — goods
  5. fine — a penalty
  6. bark — to shout
  7. bat — the animal
  8. stock — shares
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. fine — all right
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. board — a committee
  16. capital — a city
  17. chair — a leader
  18. stock — a soup base
  19. fine — high quality
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. board — a flat piece
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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