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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: capital · march · mine · bound · bark · nail · field · stick

  1. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  6. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  7. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  8. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. That was ________________ to happen.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. The ________________ went through the wall.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. field — a subject
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. capital — a city
  5. bound — obliged
  6. nail — on a finger
  7. stick — to attach or keep to
  8. stick — a piece of wood
  9. march — music
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. bound — tied together
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. mine — for digging
  15. bark — to shout
  16. field — farmland
  17. stick — a piece of wood
  18. march — the month
  19. bound — certain
  20. capital — money
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. field — for sport

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