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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 sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  6. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — to shout
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. trunk — of a tree
  6. track — to keep track
  7. capital — a city
  8. calf — a young animal
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. band — a music group
  12. track — a song
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. shower — rain
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. field — farmland
  18. shower — to wash
  19. calf — of the leg
  20. field — for sport
  21. band — a ring
  22. capital — money
  23. field — a subject
  24. track — a path

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