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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. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  5. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. march — music
  4. present — the time now
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. content — the amount
  7. bark — to shout
  8. cell — a phone
  9. content — happy
  10. capital — a city
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. hide — animal skin
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. present — a gift
  16. march — the month
  17. drill — a practice
  18. cell — in biology
  19. march — the month
  20. capital — money
  21. drill — the tool
  22. present — there
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. drill — army training

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