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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 120 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. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — music
  2. game — wild animals
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. rock — a stone
  7. prune — to trim
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. rock — music
  10. swing — in golf
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. capital — money
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. bark — to shout
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. capital — a city
  18. rock — to move gently
  19. swing — to play on
  20. prune — to trim
  21. sharp — clever
  22. scale — in music
  23. scale — size or range
  24. game — a match

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