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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. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. Have you found your soul ________________?
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  23. My father caught me by the ________________.
  24. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. capital — a city
  3. tear — from crying
  4. mouse — the animal
  5. mate — to breed
  6. degree — an amount
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. capital — money
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. mate — a partner
  11. content — the amount
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. content — happy
  15. tear — to rip
  16. bark — to shout
  17. degree — from a university
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. mouse — for a computer
  20. degree — temperature
  21. tear — from crying
  22. mouse — the animal
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. arm — a part of something

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