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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 116 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. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. A black ________________ roamed the forest.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. capital — money
  3. fork — in a road
  4. bat — the animal
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. fall — to drop
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. spring — a coil
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. fall — to drop
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. bear — the animal
  13. swing — in golf
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. spring — the season
  16. spring — of water
  17. bark — to shout
  18. fall — the season
  19. capital — a city
  20. bear — to put up with
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. swing — to play on
  23. swing — music
  24. bear — the animal

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