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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: land · file · saw · capital · kick · bark · track · spring

  1. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. He works in a ________________ mill.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  22. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  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. saw — the tool
  3. file — a document
  4. kick — in football
  5. land — a country
  6. file — a line of people
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. capital — a city
  9. track — a path
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. spring — the season
  12. land — to come down
  13. spring — of water
  14. track — a song
  15. track — to keep track
  16. saw — the tool
  17. bark — to shout
  18. kick — a thrill
  19. land — ground
  20. spring — a coil
  21. kick — with a leg
  22. saw — past of 'see'
  23. file — a tool
  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