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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: capital · squash · bark · stock · chest · dip · field · charge

  1. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. The tickets are free of ________________.
  13. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. The ________________ market has crashed.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. squash — to crush
  3. squash — the sport
  4. chest — of your body
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. chest — of your body
  7. dip — to sink
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. charge — in control
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. stock — goods
  12. charge — a price
  13. dip — a sauce
  14. field — a subject
  15. field — farmland
  16. dip — to dunk
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. capital — a city
  19. charge — electricity
  20. bark — to shout
  21. field — for sport
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. chest — a box
  24. stock — shares

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