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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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  5. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  11. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — to shout
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. kid — to tease
  4. firm — a company
  5. leaves — lets stay
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. cell — in biology
  8. squash — to crush
  9. cell — a phone
  10. firm — steady
  11. firm — decided
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. capital — money
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. leaves — to go away
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. leaves — of a tree
  20. kid — child
  21. squash — the sport
  22. capital — a city
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. straw — dry grass

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