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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. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  17. Have you settled on a ________________?
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. bark — to shout
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. pop — soda
  6. row — to paddle
  7. date — the fruit
  8. row — a line
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. pop — to visit
  12. spell — letters
  13. content — the amount
  14. pop — music
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. hide — animal skin
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. spell — a short time
  19. spell — magic
  20. capital — money
  21. content — happy
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. capital — a city
  24. date — on the calendar

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