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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 120 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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. scale — size or range
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. capital — money
  7. degree — from a university
  8. branch — a division
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. safe — out of danger
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. degree — an amount
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. safe — a strongbox
  16. wound — an injury
  17. safe — out of danger
  18. wound — an injury
  19. degree — temperature
  20. scale — in music
  21. capital — a city
  22. spring — of water
  23. bark — to shout
  24. spring — the season

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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