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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 sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  7. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  19. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  23. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  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 — to shout
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. capital — a city
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. track — a song
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. calf — of the leg
  8. last — final
  9. last — to go on
  10. track — a path
  11. kid — child
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. current — of water
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. season — in sport
  16. current — happening now
  17. last — finally
  18. current — electric
  19. calf — a young animal
  20. kid — to tease
  21. capital — money
  22. track — to keep track
  23. season — of the year
  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