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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.

Make a worksheet

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: firm · cold · bark · ground · capital · key

  1. There's no middle ________________.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  7. This piece is in a major ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. capital — a city
  3. bark — to shout
  4. ground — crushed
  5. ground — the earth
  6. firm — a company
  7. key — in music
  8. cold — not warm
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. key — the most important part
  12. cold — an illness
  13. key — for a lock
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. firm — steady
  16. capital — money
  17. firm — decided
  18. bark — of a tree

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