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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: court · ground · temple · bark · pass · pound · clip · capital

  1. There's no middle ________________.
  2. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  22. When was this ________________ built?
  23. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  24. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. pound — for dogs
  3. clip — a video
  4. pound — a weight
  5. court — of law
  6. ground — the earth
  7. pass — to spend time
  8. clip — for paper
  9. ground — crushed
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. court — for sport
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. capital — a city
  14. pass — to succeed
  15. bark — to shout
  16. court — of a king
  17. capital — money
  18. temple — side of the head
  19. clip — to cut
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. pound — to hit hard
  22. temple — a place of worship
  23. pass — a permit
  24. temple — a place of worship

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