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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 · sharp · band · object · date · chip · game · capital

  1. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  6. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  7. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  13. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  14. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. Have you settled on a ________________?
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. sharp — clever
  4. band — a music group
  5. object — an aim
  6. chip — in a computer
  7. chip — to eat
  8. game — wild animals
  9. bark — to shout
  10. game — a match
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. object — a thing
  13. object — to protest
  14. date — the fruit
  15. capital — money
  16. capital — a city
  17. chip — for betting
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. band — a ring
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. sharp — with an edge

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