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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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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: pit · bound · clip · bark · stem · pound · capital · jam

  1. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  3. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  4. That was ________________ to happen.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  18. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  19. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  20. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  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 — a dog's sound
  2. jam — a tight spot
  3. bound — tied together
  4. bound — certain
  5. clip — for paper
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. jam — to spread on bread
  8. clip — a video
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. jam — in traffic
  11. bark — to shout
  12. stem — to come from
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. clip — to cut
  15. pit — in a race
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. pound — to hit hard
  18. bound — obliged
  19. pit — a hole
  20. pit — a fruit stone
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. capital — a city
  23. pound — a weight
  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