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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 120 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. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  19. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  20. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. rule — government
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. spring — of water
  5. lean — to bend
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. capital — a city
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. capital — money
  11. tube — the underground
  12. wind — moving air
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. lean — thin
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. spring — a coil
  18. lean — to rest against
  19. rule — a law
  20. tube — a container
  21. wind — moving air
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. spring — the season
  24. bark — to shout

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