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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: capital · cold · present · game · pit · bark · degree · bound

  1. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. That was ________________ to happen.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  13. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. Boris sat near the fire ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. cold — not warm
  3. present — a gift
  4. bound — tied together
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. present — there
  7. capital — a city
  8. degree — temperature
  9. cold — an illness
  10. bound — certain
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. pit — a fruit stone
  13. pit — in a race
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. present — the time now
  16. bark — to shout
  17. bound — obliged
  18. game — wild animals
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. game — a match
  21. capital — money
  22. degree — from a university
  23. degree — an amount
  24. pit — a hole

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