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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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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: spring · bark · saw · capital · bound · rash · craft · bat

  1. That was ________________ to happen.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  11. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  12. She's very handy with a ________________.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — certain
  2. spring — of water
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. bound — tied together
  6. rash — hasty
  7. craft — a skill
  8. capital — money
  9. saw — the tool
  10. bound — obliged
  11. craft — a handicraft
  12. saw — the tool
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. spring — a coil
  16. bat — the animal
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. capital — a city
  19. spring — the season
  20. rash — a series
  21. craft — boats
  22. bark — to shout
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. capital — a big letter

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