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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. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  7. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  11. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  17. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  20. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  23. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a signal
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. capital — money
  4. firm — a company
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. cap — a lid
  7. cue — for pool
  8. cold — an illness
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. firm — steady
  11. deal — a big deal
  12. capital — a city
  13. bark — to shout
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. degree — an amount
  16. cue — a hint
  17. cap — of ice
  18. degree — from a university
  19. deal — an agreement
  20. cap — a hat
  21. cold — not warm
  22. firm — decided
  23. deal — to handle
  24. degree — temperature

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