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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 · capital · file · rule · craft · key · cold · wound

  1. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  3. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  17. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  21. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  22. This piece is in a major ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — to shout
  2. rule — a law
  3. key — for a lock
  4. wound — an injury
  5. craft — a skill
  6. wound — an injury
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. file — a document
  9. cold — not warm
  10. file — a line of people
  11. capital — a city
  12. capital — money
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. rule — to rule out
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. rule — government
  17. craft — a handicraft
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. key — the most important part
  21. craft — boats
  22. key — in music
  23. cold — an illness
  24. file — a tool

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