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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: plane · hide · row · bark · chair · cold · wake · capital

  1. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  7. The ________________ took off on time.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  12. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. row — to paddle
  3. cold — an illness
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. wake — a trail
  6. plane — in geometry
  7. plane — an aircraft
  8. chair — a leader
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. cold — not warm
  11. wake — before a funeral
  12. plane — a tool
  13. capital — a city
  14. capital — money
  15. hide — animal skin
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. bark — to shout
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. row — a line
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. chair — to sit on

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