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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. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  9. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  14. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  17. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  18. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  22. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. branch — a division
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. fine — high quality
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. fine — a penalty
  9. wave — a sudden rise
  10. capital — money
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. fine — all right
  14. wave — with your hand
  15. cold — not warm
  16. rock — a stone
  17. chair — a leader
  18. wave — of the sea
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. bark — to shout
  21. branch — of a tree
  22. rock — to move gently
  23. cold — an illness
  24. capital — a city

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