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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: coach · rock · bark · mine · snap · tear · capital · calf

  1. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  16. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  21. Have you met the new head ________________?
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. rock — a stone
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. calf — of the leg
  5. snap — to click
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. rock — music
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. tear — from crying
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. capital — money
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. capital — a city
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. tear — to rip
  20. rock — to move gently
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. mine — for digging
  24. bark — to shout

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