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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. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  22. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. bark — to shout
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. capital — a city
  7. branch — a division
  8. snap — to click
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. wind — moving air
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. row — a line
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. wind — moving air
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. row — to paddle
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. capital — money
  21. bass — the fish
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. capital — a big letter

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