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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. That must've been a ________________.
  5. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  11. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  17. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  18. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  22. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. hand — help
  3. field — for sport
  4. rush — a thrill
  5. cue — for pool
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. cue — a hint
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. field — a subject
  10. dip — to dunk
  11. dip — a sauce
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. bark — to shout
  14. rash — hasty
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. rush — hurry
  17. dip — to sink
  18. rash — a series
  19. hand — in cards
  20. field — farmland
  21. cue — a signal
  22. rush — to hurry
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. capital — money

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