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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: rock · bore · capital · land · bark · bound · shower · cap

  1. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  6. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  9. That was ________________ to happen.
  10. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  20. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  21. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  22. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. land — a country
  3. shower — to wash
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. rock — music
  6. rock — to move gently
  7. bark — to shout
  8. bore — to tire
  9. bound — certain
  10. bore — to drill
  11. shower — rain
  12. cap — a lid
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. rock — a stone
  15. land — ground
  16. capital — a city
  17. cap — a hat
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. bore — gave birth
  20. cap — of ice
  21. bound — tied together
  22. bound — obliged
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. land — to come down

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