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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: leaves · bark · roll · band · capital · march · bear · bat

  1. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  5. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  10. We're on a ________________ here.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  15. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  23. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — to shout
  2. march — the month
  3. capital — a city
  4. roll — a cake
  5. leaves — lets stay
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. bear — the animal
  8. bat — the animal
  9. bear — the animal
  10. roll — on a roll
  11. march — music
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. leaves — to go away
  15. leaves — of a tree
  16. band — a ring
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. march — the month
  21. band — a music group
  22. roll — a list
  23. bear — to put up with
  24. capital — money

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