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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 sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — to shout
  2. capital — a city
  3. track — to keep track
  4. stock — shares
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. spring — of water
  7. spring — a coil
  8. spell — letters
  9. spell — a short time
  10. saw — the tool
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. saw — the tool
  15. chair — a leader
  16. stock — goods
  17. spring — the season
  18. capital — money
  19. spell — magic
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. track — a song
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  24. track — a path

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