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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: drill · chair · wake · tear · capital · snap · bark · bay

  1. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. My mare is ________________ in color.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. bay — to keep at bay
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. snap — to click
  5. bay — a horse colour
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. drill — a practice
  9. wake — a trail
  10. tear — from crying
  11. bay — a part of the sea
  12. bark — to shout
  13. tear — from crying
  14. drill — army training
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. capital — a city
  17. tear — to rip
  18. wake — to stop sleeping
  19. chair — a leader
  20. chair — a professorship
  21. capital — money
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. wake — before a funeral
  24. drill — the tool

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