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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. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  2. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. jam — to spread on bread
  2. pound — a weight
  3. last — final
  4. hand — in cards
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. land — a country
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. land — ground
  11. jam — a tight spot
  12. last — to go on
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. jam — in traffic
  15. hand — help
  16. bark — to shout
  17. pound — for dogs
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. capital — a city
  20. last — finally
  21. land — to come down
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. pound — to hit hard
  24. capital — money

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