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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. sharp — clever
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. cell — a phone
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. bear — to put up with
  9. capital — a city
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. pitch — completely
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. cell — in biology
  14. capital — money
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. bark — to shout
  17. bear — the animal
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. bear — the animal
  20. game — wild animals
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. pitch — a sales talk
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. pitch — a sports field

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