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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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. Have you settled on a ________________?
  3. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  9. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  20. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. bear — the animal
  4. bark — to shout
  5. capital — a city
  6. bear — to put up with
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. date — the fruit
  9. rule — to rule out
  10. cold — not warm
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. race — a contest
  13. bear — the animal
  14. race — the arms race
  15. scale — in music
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. scale — size or range
  18. race — humankind
  19. rule — government
  20. rule — a law
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. cold — an illness
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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