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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. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  8. That was ________________ to happen.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  18. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  19. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  24. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — to shout
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. cold — not warm
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. capital — a city
  7. racket — a loud noise
  8. bound — certain
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. cold — an illness
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. bound — obliged
  14. game — wild animals
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. current — happening now
  18. current — of water
  19. current — electric
  20. capital — money
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. game — a match
  23. trunk — of a car
  24. bound — tied together

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