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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. The light ________________ burned out.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. I've got to change the light ________________.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. Have you found your soul ________________?
  23. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. bark — to shout
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. game — wild animals
  6. capital — money
  7. bulb — for light
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. snap — to click
  14. mate — a friend
  15. degree — temperature
  16. bulb — for light
  17. capital — a city
  18. degree — from a university
  19. mate — to breed
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. degree — an amount
  22. mate — a partner
  23. bulb — of a plant
  24. game — a match

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