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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 116 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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: spell · bark · capital · stick · shower · kid · mine · tube

  1. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. How do you ________________ your surname?
  21. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. bark — to shout
  4. kid — child
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. kid — to tease
  7. stick — to attach or keep to
  8. shower — to wash
  9. tube — the underground
  10. spell — a short time
  11. capital — money
  12. tube — a container
  13. capital — a city
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. mine — for digging
  18. stick — a piece of wood
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. spell — letters
  21. stick — a piece of wood
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. spell — magic

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