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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. The light ________________ burned out.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  23. I've got to change the light ________________.
  24. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. wound — an injury
  7. game — a match
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. degree — an amount
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. pitch — completely
  12. bark — to shout
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. degree — from a university
  15. bulb — for light
  16. game — wild animals
  17. degree — temperature
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. wound — an injury
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. capital — money
  22. pitch — a sports field
  23. bulb — for light
  24. bulb — of a plant

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