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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. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  9. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  10. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. bark — to shout
  4. dip — a sauce
  5. wound — an injury
  6. club — for golf
  7. hand — in cards
  8. dip — to dunk
  9. club — for dancing
  10. club — a group
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. wound — an injury
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. capital — money
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. stock — goods
  17. capital — a city
  18. stock — shares
  19. tear — to rip
  20. tear — from crying
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. tear — from crying
  23. dip — to sink
  24. hand — help

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