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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. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  2. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  9. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  10. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  20. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. club — for golf
  4. chest — of your body
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. racket — a loud noise
  9. rest — a break
  10. rest — what's left
  11. chest — of your body
  12. capital — a city
  13. chest — a box
  14. scale — size or range
  15. last — final
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. scale — in music
  18. last — finally
  19. rest — what's left
  20. club — for dancing
  21. bark — to shout
  22. club — a group
  23. capital — money
  24. last — to go on

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