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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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  13. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. Have you met the new head ________________?
  24. He is as ________________ as a wolf.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. cell — a phone
  3. file — a tool
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. cell — in biology
  7. file — a document
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. bark — to shout
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. perch — the fish
  13. lean — to bend
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. bat — the animal
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. file — a line of people
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. capital — a city
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. lean — to rest against
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. lean — thin

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