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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: bark · bat · march · wound · capital · wind · bank · pound

  1. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  15. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. march — the month
  3. wind — moving air
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. bank — of a river
  6. bat — the animal
  7. pound — for dogs
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. bark — to shout
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. bank — for money
  12. wound — an injury
  13. capital — money
  14. bank — for money
  15. pound — to hit hard
  16. march — the month
  17. capital — a city
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. wound — an injury
  21. march — music
  22. wind — moving air
  23. pound — a weight
  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