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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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  3. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  18. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  19. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. pound — a weight
  3. object — to protest
  4. spell — letters
  5. fall — the season
  6. pound — to hit hard
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. scale — in music
  9. fall — to drop
  10. fall — to drop
  11. scale — size or range
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. ground — a position
  14. spell — a short time
  15. capital — money
  16. bark — to shout
  17. object — a thing
  18. object — an aim
  19. pound — for dogs
  20. spell — magic
  21. capital — a city
  22. scale — for weighing
  23. ground — the earth
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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