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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. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  4. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. The King held a masked ________________.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  22. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. capital — a city
  3. board — a flat piece
  4. board — a committee
  5. ball — a great time
  6. capital — money
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. march — music
  9. object — to protest
  10. bark — to shout
  11. ball — a dance
  12. mine — for digging
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. march — the month
  16. board — to get on
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. content — the amount
  19. ball — a round shape
  20. march — the month
  21. object — an aim
  22. object — a thing
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. content — happy

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