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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. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. The ________________ took off on time.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. plane — a tool
  2. march — music
  3. bark — to shout
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. swing — music
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. capital — money
  9. bat — the animal
  10. fall — to drop
  11. shower — to wash
  12. fall — the season
  13. fall — to drop
  14. plane — an aircraft
  15. capital — a city
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. plane — in geometry
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. march — the month
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. shower — rain
  22. march — the month
  23. swing — in golf
  24. swing — to play on

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