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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: bark · chest · fine · pitcher · tube · leaves · capital · nail

  1. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. The ________________ went through the wall.
  11. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  12. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  19. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  20. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. The train ________________ at six o'clock.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — all right
  2. capital — money
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. bark — to shout
  5. chest — of your body
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. nail — on a finger
  9. tube — the underground
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. leaves — of a tree
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. chest — a box
  15. fine — high quality
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. leaves — lets stay
  19. fine — a penalty
  20. tube — a container
  21. chest — of your body
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. capital — a city
  24. leaves — to go away

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