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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 sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. That was ________________ to happen.
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  21. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — to shout
  2. capital — a city
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. bound — certain
  5. squash — to crush
  6. last — final
  7. last — to go on
  8. court — of a king
  9. drill — a practice
  10. capital — money
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. drill — army training
  13. root — of a plant
  14. squash — the sport
  15. bound — obliged
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. court — for sport
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. court — of law
  20. root — the cause
  21. root — of a word
  22. drill — the tool
  23. last — finally
  24. bound — tied together

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