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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. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  21. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. cold — an illness
  3. tube — a container
  4. capital — money
  5. tube — the underground
  6. cue — a signal
  7. capital — a city
  8. net — after costs
  9. cue — a hint
  10. tear — from crying
  11. club — for dancing
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. tear — from crying
  14. cue — for pool
  15. cold — not warm
  16. bark — to shout
  17. net — for catching
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. club — a group
  21. tube — in a tire
  22. tear — to rip
  23. club — for golf
  24. capital — a big letter

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