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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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  4. That was ________________ to happen.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  11. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. That must've been a ________________.
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. My father caught me by the ________________.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. bound — certain
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. tear — from crying
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. tear — to rip
  9. bark — to shout
  10. arm — a part of something
  11. rush — hurry
  12. field — for sport
  13. field — a subject
  14. rush — a thrill
  15. bound — tied together
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. rush — to hurry
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. capital — a city
  21. bound — obliged
  22. wake — a trail
  23. tear — from crying
  24. field — farmland

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