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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 116 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 hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  15. The ________________ went through the wall.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. dip — to dunk
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. dip — a sauce
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. nail — on a finger
  7. bark — to shout
  8. capital — a city
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. dip — to sink
  12. spring — of water
  13. hand — help
  14. cue — a signal
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. spring — a coil
  17. cue — for pool
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. hand — in cards
  22. cue — a hint
  23. capital — money
  24. spring — the season

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