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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. squash — to crush
  4. squash — the sport
  5. ground — a position
  6. sharp — clever
  7. pitch — completely
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. last — to go on
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. last — finally
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. capital — money
  15. bark — to shout
  16. pitch — a sports field
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. ground — the earth
  19. perch — the fish
  20. last — final
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. pitch — a sales talk
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. ground — crushed

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