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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. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  24. I'll be taking the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. spring — of water
  3. capital — a city
  4. court — of a king
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. spring — a coil
  7. capital — money
  8. court — of law
  9. spring — the season
  10. dip — to dunk
  11. court — for sport
  12. bark — to shout
  13. tube — in a tire
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. dip — a sauce
  16. tube — a container
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. last — finally
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. last — final
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. last — to go on
  23. dip — to sink
  24. tube — the underground

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