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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 ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  22. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  23. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  24. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — a sauce
  2. capital — a city
  3. file — a line of people
  4. scale — size or range
  5. dip — to dunk
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. kid — child
  9. bark — to shout
  10. cell — in biology
  11. file — a document
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. kid — to tease
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. file — a tool
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. scale — in music
  18. cell — a phone
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. capital — money
  21. dip — to sink
  22. scale — for weighing
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. patient — calm and waiting

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