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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: pound · field · temple · capital · present · bark · drill · arm

  1. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  2. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. My father caught me by the ________________.
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  17. When was this ________________ built?
  18. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  19. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — a practice
  2. present — there
  3. bark — to shout
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. capital — a city
  6. drill — the tool
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. drill — army training
  9. arm — a part of something
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. field — a subject
  14. pound — a weight
  15. field — for sport
  16. temple — side of the head
  17. temple — a place of worship
  18. present — a gift
  19. pound — for dogs
  20. present — the time now
  21. field — farmland
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. capital — money
  24. pound — to hit hard

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