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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. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — to shout
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. capital — a city
  4. squash — the vegetable
  5. chair — a leader
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. craft — a handicraft
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. squash — to crush
  10. kid — child
  11. capital — money
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. kid — to tease
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. craft — a skill
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. craft — boats
  22. squash — the sport
  23. patient — calm and waiting
  24. bat — the 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