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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. The light ________________ burned out.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. I've got to change the light ________________.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. bulb — of a plant
  3. net — for catching
  4. row — to paddle
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. perch — the fish
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. capital — a city
  12. bulb — for light
  13. net — after costs
  14. capital — money
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. row — a line
  17. bulb — for light
  18. ground — the earth
  19. bark — to shout
  20. hand — in cards
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. net — in sport
  23. ground — crushed
  24. ground — a position

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