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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. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  6. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  16. The King held a masked ________________.
  17. That must've been a ________________.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. drill — the tool
  3. face — to confront
  4. bark — to shout
  5. rush — hurry
  6. mark — to pay attention
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. rush — to hurry
  9. face — to point toward
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. shower — rain
  12. capital — money
  13. mark — a trace
  14. drill — a practice
  15. mark — a grade
  16. ball — a dance
  17. rush — a thrill
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. capital — a city
  21. drill — army training
  22. face — part of the head
  23. shower — to wash
  24. bark — of a tree

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