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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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Word bank
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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: bark · cold · last · craft · capital · cell

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  18. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. cell — a phone
  4. craft — boats
  5. last — final
  6. cold — not warm
  7. last — finally
  8. capital — a city
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. last — to go on
  12. cell — in biology
  13. bark — to shout
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. capital — money
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. craft — a handicraft
  18. craft — a skill

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