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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. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. She's very handy with a ________________.
  7. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  13. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  14. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. kid — child
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. ground — a position
  5. file — a tool
  6. saw — the tool
  7. saw — past of 'see'
  8. capital — a city
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. saw — the tool
  11. ground — crushed
  12. leaves — to go away
  13. leaves — of a tree
  14. bass — low music
  15. capital — money
  16. file — a line of people
  17. bark — to shout
  18. file — a document
  19. kid — to tease
  20. bass — the fish
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. ground — the earth
  24. leaves — lets stay

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