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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. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. That must've been a ________________.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — to hurry
  2. capital — money
  3. drill — army training
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. rush — a thrill
  7. degree — temperature
  8. degree — from a university
  9. rush — hurry
  10. bark — to shout
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. degree — an amount
  13. drill — a practice
  14. content — happy
  15. leaves — lets stay
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. leaves — to go away
  18. drill — the tool
  19. wind — moving air
  20. content — the amount
  21. wind — moving air
  22. leaves — of a tree
  23. capital — a city
  24. wind — to turn a key

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