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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 120 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 · hand · capital · bark · dip · craft · club · mine

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  7. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  8. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  16. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  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. bat — the animal
  2. craft — boats
  3. club — for golf
  4. bark — to shout
  5. capital — a city
  6. craft — a skill
  7. craft — a handicraft
  8. dip — to dunk
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. capital — money
  14. hand — in cards
  15. dip — to sink
  16. club — a group
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. dip — a sauce
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. club — for dancing
  22. mine — for digging
  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