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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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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 · chair · chip · snap · stick · land · capital · bound

  1. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. That was ________________ to happen.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  19. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  20. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to snap out of it
  2. stick — a piece of wood
  3. land — to come down
  4. chair — a leader
  5. chip — for betting
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. bound — certain
  8. land — a country
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. land — ground
  12. capital — money
  13. bark — to shout
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. bound — tied together
  16. chip — in a computer
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. bound — obliged
  19. chip — to eat
  20. stick — to attach or keep to
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. snap — to click
  24. capital — a city

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