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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. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. The ________________ took off on time.
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  14. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  19. Have you met the new head ________________?
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  22. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  23. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. cold — not warm
  4. capital — a city
  5. mate — to breed
  6. cell — in biology
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. plane — in geometry
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. plane — an aircraft
  11. mate — a partner
  12. capital — money
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. mouse — the animal
  15. cold — an illness
  16. bark — to shout
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. mouse — the animal
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. mate — a friend
  22. plane — a tool
  23. mouse — for a computer
  24. capital — a big letter

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