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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. False peace will not ________________.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  5. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  13. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. Did you ________________ the button?
  18. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. capital — money
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. patient — calm and waiting
  5. rock — music
  6. capital — a city
  7. ground — a position
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. rock — a stone
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. mine — for digging
  12. press — newspapers
  13. press — a publisher
  14. last — final
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. bark — to shout
  17. press — to push
  18. rock — to move gently
  19. ground — the earth
  20. last — finally
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. ground — crushed

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