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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. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  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. bark — of a tree
  2. chest — a box
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. race — a contest
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. capital — a city
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. race — the arms race
  11. band — a ring
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. band — a music group
  15. capital — money
  16. bark — to shout
  17. race — humankind
  18. chest — of your body
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. wake — a trail
  21. scale — size or range
  22. chest — of your body
  23. scale — in music
  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