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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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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: bay · rest · capital · bark · hand · trunk · degree · band

  1. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. My mare is ________________ in color.
  20. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. hand — help
  3. bay — a part of the sea
  4. degree — temperature
  5. bay — to keep at bay
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. degree — an amount
  8. band — a ring
  9. bark — to shout
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. rest — a break
  13. capital — money
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. degree — from a university
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. band — a music group
  19. bay — a horse colour
  20. trunk — of an elephant
  21. capital — a city
  22. hand — in cards
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. rest — what's left

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