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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. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  20. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  24. He keeps ________________ of his days.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. rule — government
  4. capital — a city
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. bear — to put up with
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. track — a song
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. degree — temperature
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. net — after costs
  14. rule — to rule out
  15. net — in sport
  16. bark — to shout
  17. capital — money
  18. net — for catching
  19. bear — the animal
  20. bear — the animal
  21. degree — from a university
  22. degree — an amount
  23. rule — a law
  24. track — to keep track

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