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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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  5. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  6. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  24. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. trunk — of a tree
  3. capital — a city
  4. staff — a stick
  5. club — a group
  6. club — for golf
  7. pop — to visit
  8. pop — music
  9. bark — to shout
  10. wind — moving air
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. spring — a coil
  13. staff — employees
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. spring — of water
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. wind — moving air
  19. pop — soda
  20. staff — employees
  21. spring — the season
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. trunk — of a car
  24. club — for dancing

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