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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. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. The King held a masked ________________.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  6. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  17. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  21. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  24. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. ball — a dance
  3. shower — to wash
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. club — a group
  6. ball — a great time
  7. capital — a city
  8. shower — rain
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. cap — a hat
  13. bark — to shout
  14. sharp — clever
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. club — for golf
  17. rest — a break
  18. capital — money
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. rest — what's left
  21. club — for dancing
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. cap — a lid
  24. rest — what's left

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