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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: bark · field · kick · sharp · drill · cue · ground · capital

  1. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. drill — the tool
  3. kick — in football
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. field — farmland
  6. cue — a hint
  7. bark — to shout
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. field — for sport
  10. ground — a position
  11. cue — a signal
  12. ground — the earth
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. ground — crushed
  15. kick — with a leg
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. field — a subject
  18. sharp — clever
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. drill — a practice
  21. capital — money
  22. capital — a city
  23. drill — army training
  24. cue — for pool

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