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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 120 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: pitcher · capital · spring · key · ground · wake · bark · club

  1. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. This piece is in a major ________________.
  3. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  21. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  22. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. Fill up this ________________ with water.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. key — in music
  3. club — a group
  4. ground — crushed
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. wake — a trail
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. capital — money
  10. ground — a position
  11. capital — a city
  12. key — the most important part
  13. ground — the earth
  14. bark — to shout
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. key — for a lock
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. spring — the season
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. wake — before a funeral
  21. club — for dancing
  22. club — for golf
  23. spring — of water
  24. pitcher — a jug

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