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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. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  18. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  23. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  24. I play ________________ in a jazz band.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. branch — of a tree
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. present — there
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. board — a flat piece
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. board — to get on
  10. bark — to shout
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. mine — for digging
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. bass — low music
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. capital — a city
  17. branch — a division
  18. present — the time now
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. capital — money
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. bass — the fish
  23. board — a committee
  24. bass — the instrument

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