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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: bark · bass · capital · cell · fine · board · wound · hand

  1. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  15. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  22. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  23. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  24. I assure you, everything's ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — to shout
  2. capital — a city
  3. bass — the fish
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. fine — a penalty
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. wound — an injury
  9. hand — help
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. cell — a phone
  12. board — a flat piece
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. fine — high quality
  15. board — a committee
  16. hand — in cards
  17. capital — money
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. cell — in biology
  20. wound — an injury
  21. bass — low music
  22. bass — the instrument
  23. board — to get on
  24. fine — all right

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