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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. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  7. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  11. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  20. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. game — a match
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. field — a subject
  5. last — to go on
  6. craft — a skill
  7. bowl — to roll
  8. last — finally
  9. capital — a city
  10. bowl — a football final
  11. bowl — a dish
  12. bark — to shout
  13. capital — money
  14. field — for sport
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. field — farmland
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. craft — a handicraft
  20. craft — boats
  21. wind — moving air
  22. wind — moving air
  23. last — final
  24. game — wild animals

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