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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: nail · wind · hand · bark · mark · capital · leaves · bat

  1. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  2. The ________________ went through the wall.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  18. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  19. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  23. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — to pay attention
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. wind — moving air
  4. capital — a city
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. hand — in cards
  7. bark — to shout
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. hand — help
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. capital — money
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. leaves — of a tree
  15. bat — the animal
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. mark — a trace
  18. leaves — to go away
  19. leaves — lets stay
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. wind — moving air
  22. mark — a grade
  23. nail — on a finger
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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