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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: wake · capital · dip · bark · hand · cold · pop · mouse

  1. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  11. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  22. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  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. bark — of a tree
  2. bark — to shout
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. cold — not warm
  5. pop — soda
  6. wake — a trail
  7. pop — to visit
  8. dip — to sink
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. dip — to dunk
  11. pop — music
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. mouse — the animal
  14. capital — money
  15. capital — a city
  16. cold — an illness
  17. mouse — for a computer
  18. hand — in cards
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. mouse — the animal
  22. dip — a sauce
  23. hand — help
  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