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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: fan · plane · capital · cabinet · spring · bark · tear · wake

  1. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  6. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. The ________________ took off on time.
  16. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  17. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  18. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. What do you think of the new ________________?
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. cabinet — a cupboard
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. fan — to cool the air
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. wake — a trail
  8. spring — of water
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. tear — from crying
  12. tear — from crying
  13. tear — to rip
  14. bark — to shout
  15. plane — an aircraft
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. plane — in geometry
  18. plane — a tool
  19. spring — the season
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. capital — money
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. capital — a city

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