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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 116 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. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  8. What do you think of the new ________________?
  9. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  10. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  14. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  24. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. capital — a city
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. spring — of water
  5. lash — a whip stroke
  6. spring — the season
  7. calf — of the leg
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. tube — a container
  10. cabinet — a cupboard
  11. capital — money
  12. spring — a coil
  13. lash — to lash out
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. degree — from a university
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. degree — temperature
  18. tube — the underground
  19. bark — to shout
  20. degree — an amount
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. lash — an eyelash
  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