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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 ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  2. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  3. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  4. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  5. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  14. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  17. We're on a ________________ here.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. roll — a cake
  3. craft — boats
  4. fine — all right
  5. fine — high quality
  6. ground — crushed
  7. rest — a break
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. bark — to shout
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. ground — the earth
  12. wind — moving air
  13. craft — a skill
  14. craft — a handicraft
  15. ground — a position
  16. roll — a list
  17. roll — on a roll
  18. wind — moving air
  19. rest — what's left
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. capital — money
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. capital — a city
  24. fine — a penalty

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