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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: chair · mouse · drill · stick · capital · bark · shower · file

  1. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  17. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  21. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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 big letter
  3. shower — to wash
  4. bark — to shout
  5. chair — a leader
  6. drill — army training
  7. file — a document
  8. stick — a piece of wood
  9. shower — rain
  10. drill — the tool
  11. mouse — for a computer
  12. capital — a city
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. drill — a practice
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. stick — to attach or keep to
  17. stick — a piece of wood
  18. file — a tool
  19. file — a line of people
  20. mouse — the animal
  21. mouse — the animal
  22. capital — money
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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