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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: cell · bass · bark · bore · file · cap · capital · kid

  1. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. file — a tool
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. cell — a phone
  5. bark — to shout
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. bore — gave birth
  8. file — a line of people
  9. bass — the fish
  10. capital — a city
  11. bass — low music
  12. cap — a lid
  13. cap — of ice
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. file — a document
  16. kid — child
  17. bore — to drill
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. cap — a hat
  20. kid — to tease
  21. capital — money
  22. bore — to tire
  23. cell — in biology
  24. cell — in a prison

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