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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. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  2. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  5. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  15. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — to move gently
  2. bank — of a river
  3. capital — a city
  4. bank — for money
  5. rock — music
  6. hand — help
  7. present — the time now
  8. file — a line of people
  9. hand — in cards
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. cell — a phone
  14. bank — for money
  15. present — a gift
  16. present — there
  17. file — a document
  18. cell — in biology
  19. rock — a stone
  20. capital — money
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. bark — to shout
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. file — a tool

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