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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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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: capital · bear · bark · straw · field · present · rule · file

  1. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  13. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  19. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  20. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  23. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  24. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — to shout
  2. field — farmland
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. file — a line of people
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. rule — to rule out
  7. file — a document
  8. field — a subject
  9. field — for sport
  10. file — a tool
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. rule — a law
  13. rule — government
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. capital — money
  17. capital — a city
  18. bear — the animal
  19. present — the time now
  20. bear — to put up with
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. present — there
  23. present — a gift
  24. bear — the animal

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