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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. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  5. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  6. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  7. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  17. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  20. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — to shout
  2. calf — of the leg
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. mark — a trace
  5. pitch — a sports field
  6. chip — to eat
  7. pitch — a sales talk
  8. cold — not warm
  9. cold — an illness
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. capital — money
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. drill — the tool
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. mark — to pay attention
  17. chip — in a computer
  18. drill — army training
  19. chip — for betting
  20. mark — a grade
  21. drill — a practice
  22. capital — a city
  23. pitch — completely
  24. calf — a young animal

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