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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: bark · ground · cabinet · capital · land · spell · perch · hand

  1. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  2. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. What do you think of the new ________________?
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — a short time
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. capital — a city
  5. perch — the fish
  6. cabinet — a cupboard
  7. land — a country
  8. spell — letters
  9. ground — the earth
  10. spell — magic
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. land — to come down
  13. bark — to shout
  14. capital — money
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. hand — in cards
  20. land — ground
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. hand — help
  23. ground — crushed
  24. ground — a position

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