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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: present · toast · cabinet · capital · cold · fork · mine · bark

  1. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  9. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  12. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  13. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. What do you think of the new ________________?
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — to shout
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. cold — not warm
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. cabinet — a cupboard
  9. present — a gift
  10. mine — for digging
  11. toast — the most admired
  12. present — the time now
  13. toast — a drink to someone
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. present — there
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. cold — an illness
  20. capital — a city
  21. toast — bread
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. capital — money
  24. fork — in a road

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