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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: bark · wake · pop · drill · field · capital · charge · kid

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. The tickets are free of ________________.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  16. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  17. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. You don't need to ________________ round.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. drill — army training
  3. bark — to shout
  4. drill — a practice
  5. kid — child
  6. charge — in control
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. pop — soda
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. field — a subject
  12. charge — a price
  13. field — for sport
  14. capital — money
  15. charge — electricity
  16. pop — music
  17. wake — before a funeral
  18. capital — a city
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. drill — the tool
  21. field — farmland
  22. pop — to visit
  23. wake — a trail
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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