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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: bowl · capital · file · ground · tear · ball · track · trunk

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  8. The King held a masked ________________.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  16. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  21. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. trunk — of a tree
  3. file — a tool
  4. file — a document
  5. bowl — a football final
  6. tear — from crying
  7. bowl — a dish
  8. ball — a dance
  9. tear — from crying
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. capital — money
  12. file — a line of people
  13. ball — a great time
  14. ground — a position
  15. ball — a round shape
  16. track — to keep track
  17. ground — the earth
  18. track — a path
  19. ground — crushed
  20. bowl — to roll
  21. track — a song
  22. tear — to rip
  23. trunk — of an elephant
  24. capital — a big letter

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