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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  3. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  4. My father caught me by the ________________.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. That was ________________ to happen.
  8. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  20. She's very handy with a ________________.
  21. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  24. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. foot — the bottom
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. capital — money
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. bound — certain
  8. bound — obliged
  9. file — a document
  10. spring — a coil
  11. spring — the season
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. file — a line of people
  15. spring — of water
  16. file — a tool
  17. foot — part of the body
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. arm — a part of something
  20. saw — the tool
  21. foot — a measure
  22. bark — to shout
  23. saw — the tool
  24. bound — tied together

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