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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. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  19. What do you think of the new ________________?
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. object — a thing
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. rule — to rule out
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. hand — in cards
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. rule — a law
  10. spring — of water
  11. capital — money
  12. object — to protest
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. hand — help
  15. object — an aim
  16. spring — the season
  17. bark — to shout
  18. rule — government
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. bat — the animal
  21. cabinet — a cupboard
  22. spring — a coil
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. capital — a city

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