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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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. This piece is in a major ________________.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  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. land — to come down
  2. scale — for weighing
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. sharp — clever
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. key — in music
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. scale — size or range
  10. swing — music
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. swing — in golf
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. scale — in music
  15. cell — in biology
  16. land — ground
  17. key — the most important part
  18. land — a country
  19. capital — a city
  20. key — for a lock
  21. swing — to play on
  22. cell — a phone
  23. bark — to shout
  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