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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: straw · key · rash · bark · ground · bat · capital · current

  1. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  12. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. This piece is in a major ________________.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  23. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  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. rash — hasty
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. capital — a city
  6. current — electric
  7. ground — the earth
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. key — the most important part
  12. current — of water
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. ground — crushed
  15. bat — the animal
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. ground — a position
  19. rash — a series
  20. key — in music
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. current — happening now
  23. key — for a lock
  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