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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. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  23. The tickets are free of ________________.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. can — a tin
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. degree — from a university
  5. charge — electricity
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. can — a tin
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. tube — the underground
  10. capital — money
  11. degree — temperature
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. cold — an illness
  14. can — to be able to
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. capital — a city
  17. cold — not warm
  18. bark — to shout
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. degree — an amount
  21. tube — a container
  22. charge — in control
  23. charge — a price
  24. mine — for digging

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