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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. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  16. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  21. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — a permit
  2. march — music
  3. capital — a city
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. chest — of your body
  7. wake — a trail
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. capital — money
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. chest — of your body
  12. bark — to shout
  13. row — a line
  14. march — the month
  15. club — for golf
  16. pass — to succeed
  17. chest — a box
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. row — to paddle
  20. club — for dancing
  21. club — a group
  22. march — the month
  23. pass — to spend time
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

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