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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. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. That was ________________ to happen.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. The ________________ took off on time.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. We are ________________ to obey laws.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — high quality
  2. content — happy
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. ground — a position
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. swing — in golf
  7. bound — tied together
  8. ground — the earth
  9. fine — a penalty
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. fine — all right
  12. swing — to play on
  13. ground — crushed
  14. bound — certain
  15. bark — to shout
  16. swing — music
  17. plane — a tool
  18. capital — money
  19. plane — in geometry
  20. capital — a city
  21. plane — an aircraft
  22. content — the amount
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. bound — obliged

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