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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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  7. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. I'll be taking the ________________.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  24. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. rock — to move gently
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. fork — to eat with
  5. capital — a city
  6. lean — thin
  7. lean — to rest against
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. fork — in a road
  10. bat — the animal
  11. rock — a stone
  12. bark — to shout
  13. rock — music
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. lean — to bend
  16. shower — rain
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. shower — to wash
  21. tube — the underground
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. tube — a container
  24. fork — a garden tool

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