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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 116 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: bat · band · craft · capital · bark · trunk · deal · swing

  1. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  9. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  23. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a tree
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. swing — to play on
  4. trunk — of a car
  5. bark — to shout
  6. capital — money
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. craft — a skill
  9. craft — boats
  10. capital — a city
  11. deal — a big deal
  12. band — a music group
  13. swing — in golf
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. bat — the animal
  18. swing — music
  19. deal — an agreement
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. band — a ring
  22. deal — to handle
  23. craft — a handicraft
  24. trunk — of an elephant

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