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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 train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  2. When will it ________________ you to start?
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  5. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. I can't ________________ this cold.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — on your feet
  2. suit — to fit
  3. wound — an injury
  4. dip — to dunk
  5. suit — in cards
  6. capital — a city
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. suit — clothes
  12. game — a match
  13. stand — to bear
  14. shower — to wash
  15. wound — an injury
  16. capital — money
  17. dip — to sink
  18. shower — rain
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. stand — for spectators
  21. bark — to shout
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. game — wild animals
  24. dip — a sauce

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