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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: capital · court · bound · bark · spell · pound · game · pitch

  1. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  7. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  8. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  15. That was ________________ to happen.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. capital — a city
  3. spell — magic
  4. court — of law
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. bound — obliged
  7. pound — a weight
  8. pound — to hit hard
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. capital — money
  11. spell — a short time
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. game — wild animals
  14. pound — for dogs
  15. bound — certain
  16. bark — to shout
  17. pitch — completely
  18. game — a match
  19. court — of a king
  20. pitch — a sports field
  21. spell — letters
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. bound — tied together
  24. court — for sport

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