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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 · wind · capital · fine · land · band · perch · snap

  1. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  24. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. fine — a penalty
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. bark — to shout
  6. land — ground
  7. fine — high quality
  8. band — a music group
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. land — to come down
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. band — a ring
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. capital — money
  17. wind — moving air
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. land — a country
  20. wind — moving air
  21. capital — a city
  22. perch — the fish
  23. fine — all right
  24. snap — to click

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