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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 116 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. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. I'd like to play a game of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. can — a tin
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. can — to be able to
  5. capital — a city
  6. band — a ring
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. craft — boats
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. craft — a handicraft
  11. court — of a king
  12. bark — to shout
  13. mine — for digging
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. craft — a skill
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. can — a tin
  18. capital — money
  19. squash — to crush
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. court — of law
  22. court — for sport
  23. band — a music group
  24. squash — the sport

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