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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: land · kid · bark · pass · stick · capital · ground · last

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  5. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  21. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. ground — crushed
  4. pass — to spend time
  5. pass — to succeed
  6. land — to come down
  7. stick — to attach or keep to
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. bark — to shout
  11. kid — child
  12. land — ground
  13. ground — a position
  14. capital — money
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. last — finally
  17. last — to go on
  18. stick — a piece of wood
  19. land — a country
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. pass — a permit
  22. last — final
  23. ground — the earth
  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