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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 116 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: capital · wind · lean · bark · vault · hand · chair · shower

  1. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  22. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. He is as ________________ as a wolf.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. capital — money
  4. vault — an arched ceiling
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. wind — moving air
  7. lean — to rest against
  8. hand — in cards
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. vault — a safe
  12. shower — rain
  13. wind — moving air
  14. shower — to wash
  15. capital — a city
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. hand — help
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. bark — to shout
  21. lean — to bend
  22. vault — in gymnastics
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. lean — thin

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