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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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468
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: cap · snap · prune · court · stock · game · capital · bark

  1. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. What's the difference between broth and ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. bark — to shout
  2. cap — of ice
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. cap — a hat
  6. court — for sport
  7. capital — money
  8. stock — goods
  9. prune — to trim
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. game — a match
  12. cap — a lid
  13. stock — shares
  14. game — wild animals
  15. court — of law
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. prune — to trim
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. court — of a king
  20. snap — to click
  21. capital — a city
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. stock — a soup base

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