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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 116 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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  12. That was ________________ to happen.
  13. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  18. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  19. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  20. The King held a masked ________________.
  21. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  22. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. cold — an illness
  4. capital — a city
  5. kid — to tease
  6. kid — child
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. bear — the animal
  9. bark — to shout
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. bound — tied together
  12. bound — certain
  13. bear — to put up with
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. present — a gift
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. bound — obliged
  18. present — there
  19. present — the time now
  20. ball — a dance
  21. ball — a great time
  22. bear — the animal
  23. cold — not warm
  24. capital — money

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