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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: bat · ground · fine · capital · lie · bark · stick · bowl

  1. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  19. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  20. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  21. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  22. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. stick — a piece of wood
  3. capital — a city
  4. ground — the earth
  5. lie — an untruth
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. bat — the animal
  8. bowl — a dish
  9. capital — money
  10. lie — to recline
  11. ground — crushed
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. ground — a position
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. fine — high quality
  17. bark — to shout
  18. fine — a penalty
  19. stick — to attach or keep to
  20. bowl — to roll
  21. bowl — a football final
  22. fine — all right
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. stick — a piece of wood

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