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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. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  2. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  5. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. That was ________________ to happen.
  20. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. track — a song
  3. bark — to shout
  4. bound — obliged
  5. bound — tied together
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. face — to confront
  8. capital — a city
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. spring — the season
  12. race — humankind
  13. capital — money
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. face — to point toward
  16. spring — a coil
  17. spring — of water
  18. race — a contest
  19. bound — certain
  20. track — a path
  21. race — the arms race
  22. prune — to trim
  23. face — part of the head
  24. prune — to trim

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