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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: date · capital · cell · face · bay · bark · stick · shower

  1. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  2. My mare is ________________ in color.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. Have you settled on a ________________?
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  22. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  23. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. bay — to keep at bay
  2. bay — a horse colour
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. face — to point toward
  6. face — to confront
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. bark — to shout
  9. cell — a phone
  10. bay — a part of the sea
  11. capital — money
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. shower — rain
  14. cell — in biology
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. capital — a city
  17. face — part of the head
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. date — the fruit
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. stick — to attach or keep to
  22. stick — a piece of wood
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. shower — to wash

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