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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. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. land — ground
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. mate — a partner
  5. capital — a city
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. leaves — lets stay
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. leaves — to go away
  11. chest — of your body
  12. mate — to breed
  13. chair — a leader
  14. chest — a box
  15. capital — money
  16. mate — a friend
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. mouse — the animal
  19. bark — to shout
  20. land — a country
  21. mouse — for a computer
  22. land — to come down
  23. leaves — of a tree
  24. chest — of your body

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