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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. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. spring — of water
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. dip — a sauce
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. fall — to drop
  8. bark — to shout
  9. capital — a city
  10. capital — money
  11. content — happy
  12. perch — the fish
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. fall — the season
  15. chair — a leader
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. dip — to dunk
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. spring — the season
  20. content — the amount
  21. spring — a coil
  22. dip — to sink
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. fall — to drop

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