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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 116 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: drill · shower · squash · pop · capital · bear · rash · bark

  1. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. You don't need to ________________ round.
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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 — a meteor shower
  4. bark — to shout
  5. rash — hasty
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. pop — music
  8. squash — to crush
  9. squash — the sport
  10. bear — the animal
  11. drill — army training
  12. capital — money
  13. bear — to put up with
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. pop — to visit
  17. rash — a series
  18. drill — a practice
  19. pop — soda
  20. drill — the tool
  21. shower — rain
  22. bear — the animal
  23. shower — to wash
  24. capital — a city

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