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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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. We're on a ________________ here.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  24. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.

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. march — the month
  4. capital — a city
  5. spring — a coil
  6. file — a document
  7. deal — an agreement
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. deal — a big deal
  10. march — the month
  11. file — a line of people
  12. roll — on a roll
  13. capital — money
  14. roll — a list
  15. spring — the season
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. march — music
  18. squash — to crush
  19. file — a tool
  20. spring — of water
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. squash — the sport
  23. roll — a cake
  24. deal — to handle

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