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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 120 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: vault · bark · bat · march · capital · branch · pound · degree

  1. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  3. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  22. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  23. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. pound — a weight
  3. branch — of a bank
  4. march — the month
  5. capital — a city
  6. branch — a division
  7. capital — money
  8. degree — temperature
  9. vault — in gymnastics
  10. degree — an amount
  11. vault — a safe
  12. march — music
  13. degree — from a university
  14. march — the month
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. bat — the animal
  20. bark — to shout
  21. pound — to hit hard
  22. pound — for dogs
  23. vault — an arched ceiling
  24. bark — of a tree

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