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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 · date · bark · court · capital · shower · branch · fall

  1. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  2. Have you settled on a ________________?
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — of a tree
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. shower — rain
  5. bark — to shout
  6. court — of law
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. land — to come down
  9. branch — a division
  10. capital — a city
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. capital — money
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. fall — to drop
  16. shower — to wash
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. land — ground
  19. court — for sport
  20. date — the fruit
  21. fall — the season
  22. court — of a king
  23. land — a country
  24. fall — to drop

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