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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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. That was ________________ to happen.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. What do you think of the new ________________?
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. cabinet — a cupboard
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. fall — to drop
  8. court — of law
  9. fall — to drop
  10. bound — obliged
  11. mine — for digging
  12. court — of a king
  13. kid — to tease
  14. bound — tied together
  15. kid — child
  16. bark — to shout
  17. fall — the season
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. capital — money
  21. bound — certain
  22. capital — a city
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. court — for sport

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