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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 120 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: wind · tube · capital · bark · straw · rule

  1. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  10. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  11. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — in a tire
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. tube — the underground
  4. tube — a container
  5. capital — a city
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. rule — a law
  10. rule — to rule out
  11. rule — government
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. bark — to shout
  14. wind — moving air
  15. wind — moving air
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. capital — money

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