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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. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  14. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  15. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  19. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. capital — money
  6. kid — child
  7. bat — the animal
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. kid — to tease
  10. capital — a city
  11. pass — a permit
  12. last — to go on
  13. mouse — the animal
  14. pass — to succeed
  15. mouse — for a computer
  16. last — final
  17. mine — for digging
  18. mouse — the animal
  19. pass — to spend time
  20. last — finally
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. bark — to shout
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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