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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. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  13. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  20. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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. chest — of your body
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. current — happening now
  7. branch — a division
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. racket — a loud noise
  11. stock — goods
  12. current — electric
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. stock — shares
  15. perch — the fish
  16. chest — of your body
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. current — of water
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. capital — money
  22. chest — a box
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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