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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: shower · board · bark · bulb · capital · mug · rule · swing

  1. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. The light ________________ burned out.
  4. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  5. Where did you ________________ them?
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  10. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. I've got to change the light ________________.
  15. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  18. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  19. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — a face
  2. capital — money
  3. bulb — for light
  4. mug — a cup
  5. mug — to rob
  6. capital — a city
  7. swing — to play on
  8. shower — rain
  9. board — a flat piece
  10. bulb — of a plant
  11. swing — music
  12. board — a committee
  13. shower — to wash
  14. bulb — for light
  15. rule — a law
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. board — to get on
  18. rule — to rule out
  19. rule — government
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. swing — in golf
  22. bark — to shout
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. capital — a big letter

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