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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: temple · bark · march · shower · capital · wind

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  17. When was this ________________ built?
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. march — the month
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. wind — moving air
  5. capital — money
  6. wind — moving air
  7. shower — to wash
  8. bark — to shout
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. temple — a place of worship
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. march — music
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. march — the month
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. temple — side of the head
  17. temple — a place of worship
  18. shower — rain

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