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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 116 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 sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. The tickets are free of ________________.
  8. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  9. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — to shout
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. row — a line
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. perch — the fish
  6. content — happy
  7. charge — a price
  8. charge — in control
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. wound — an injury
  11. charge — electricity
  12. capital — a city
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. row — to paddle
  16. wound — an injury
  17. content — the amount
  18. swing — music
  19. swing — to play on
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. swing — in golf
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. capital — money
  24. bark — of a tree

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