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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 · bound · toast · temple · cold · capital · board · spring

  1. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  7. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  8. That was ________________ to happen.
  9. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  10. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  11. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  14. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. When was this ________________ built?
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a flat piece
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. toast — a drink to someone
  4. capital — money
  5. capital — a city
  6. temple — side of the head
  7. bound — tied together
  8. bound — certain
  9. board — a committee
  10. board — to get on
  11. bound — obliged
  12. spring — of water
  13. toast — the most admired
  14. temple — a place of worship
  15. spring — the season
  16. toast — bread
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. cold — an illness
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. temple — a place of worship
  22. spring — a coil
  23. cold — not warm
  24. bark — to shout

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