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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. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  7. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  10. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  18. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  19. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  20. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  21. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. capital — a city
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. stem — of a plant
  7. current — electric
  8. content — happy
  9. rest — what's left
  10. pass — a permit
  11. content — the amount
  12. rest — a break
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. bark — to shout
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. pass — to succeed
  18. current — happening now
  19. pass — to spend time
  20. current — of water
  21. stem — to come from
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. capital — money
  24. pitcher — a jug

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