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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: bowl · rule · capital · land · squash · cold · bark · rock

  1. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  2. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  5. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  10. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  11. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — a law
  2. squash — to crush
  3. squash — the sport
  4. rock — a stone
  5. bowl — a dish
  6. capital — a city
  7. rock — to move gently
  8. land — to come down
  9. rule — to rule out
  10. bowl — a football final
  11. rock — music
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. rule — government
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. cold — an illness
  16. land — ground
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. land — a country
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. capital — money
  21. bark — to shout
  22. bowl — to roll
  23. squash — the vegetable
  24. cold — not warm

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