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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. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. The King held a masked ________________.
  23. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a round shape
  2. net — in sport
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. board — a flat piece
  5. branch — a division
  6. bark — to shout
  7. ball — a great time
  8. hand — help
  9. ground — the earth
  10. ground — crushed
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. capital — a city
  17. ground — a position
  18. board — a committee
  19. capital — money
  20. net — after costs
  21. net — for catching
  22. ball — a dance
  23. board — to get on
  24. hand — in cards

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