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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: capital · kid · bark · march · rule · prune

  1. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — to rule out
  2. capital — money
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. march — the month
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. kid — to tease
  9. rule — a law
  10. bark — to shout
  11. capital — a city
  12. rule — government
  13. march — music
  14. prune — to trim
  15. prune — to trim
  16. march — the month
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. kid — child

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