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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. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  4. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  16. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  17. Don't do anything ________________.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. club — a group
  4. club — for golf
  5. stem — to come from
  6. rash — a series
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. kid — child
  9. capital — a city
  10. bark — to shout
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. club — for dancing
  13. capital — money
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. chip — for betting
  16. chip — to eat
  17. rash — hasty
  18. kid — to tease
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. chip — in a computer
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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