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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. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  17. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  18. You don't need to ________________ round.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?

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

Answer key

  1. pop — music
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. spell — letters
  4. spell — magic
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. rock — a stone
  7. tear — from crying
  8. hand — help
  9. pop — soda
  10. tear — from crying
  11. bark — to shout
  12. bore — gave birth
  13. hand — in cards
  14. rock — to move gently
  15. capital — a city
  16. rock — music
  17. bore — to drill
  18. pop — to visit
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. capital — money
  21. spell — a short time
  22. tear — to rip
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. bore — to tire

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