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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: bay · cell · bark · capital · pop · fall · plane · bat

  1. My mare is ________________ in color.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  11. The ________________ took off on time.
  12. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. We're almost out of ________________.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. You don't need to ________________ round.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  20. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. bay — a horse colour
  2. capital — a city
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. cell — in biology
  6. bat — the animal
  7. pop — music
  8. bay — a part of the sea
  9. bark — to shout
  10. bay — to keep at bay
  11. plane — an aircraft
  12. plane — in geometry
  13. capital — money
  14. fall — to drop
  15. pop — soda
  16. cell — a phone
  17. pop — to visit
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. plane — a tool
  20. fall — to drop
  21. fall — the season
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. bat — in an idiom

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