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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. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  9. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. capital — a city
  6. ground — a position
  7. ground — crushed
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. perch — the fish
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. lie — an untruth
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. game — wild animals
  15. content — the amount
  16. ground — the earth
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. game — a match
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. bark — to shout
  21. capital — money
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. content — happy
  24. lie — to recline

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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