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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. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  7. This piece is in a major ________________.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  10. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  11. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  14. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  19. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  20. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  21. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. squash — the sport
  3. last — final
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. content — happy
  6. cap — a lid
  7. key — in music
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. cap — of ice
  10. fine — all right
  11. fine — high quality
  12. bark — to shout
  13. pound — to hit hard
  14. pound — for dogs
  15. cap — a hat
  16. pound — a weight
  17. last — finally
  18. fine — a penalty
  19. key — for a lock
  20. squash — to crush
  21. key — the most important part
  22. last — to go on
  23. content — the amount
  24. content — videos and posts

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