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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. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  19. She's very handy with a ________________.
  20. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. capital — a city
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. land — ground
  9. bark — to shout
  10. present — the time now
  11. game — wild animals
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. capital — money
  14. saw — the tool
  15. prune — to trim
  16. present — a gift
  17. land — a country
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. saw — the tool
  20. present — there
  21. prune — to trim
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. land — to come down

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