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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. bark — to shout
  3. drill — army training
  4. patient — calm and waiting
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. drill — the tool
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. branch — a division
  10. court — for sport
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. face — to confront
  17. drill — a practice
  18. court — of a king
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. face — part of the head
  22. capital — money
  23. face — to point toward
  24. court — of law

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