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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. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  6. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — to shout
  2. rule — government
  3. club — for golf
  4. club — for dancing
  5. present — the time now
  6. rule — to rule out
  7. swing — in golf
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. capital — money
  10. swing — to play on
  11. rule — a law
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. field — for sport
  15. club — a group
  16. swing — music
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. field — a subject
  19. present — a gift
  20. capital — a city
  21. field — farmland
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. mine — for digging
  24. present — there

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