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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 · rush · ground · rule · bark · branch · capital · spring

  1. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  13. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. That must've been a ________________.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. bark — to shout
  3. spring — a coil
  4. ground — a position
  5. capital — a city
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. branch — a division
  8. spring — of water
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. ground — the earth
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. rush — to hurry
  13. rule — government
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. rush — a thrill
  17. ground — crushed
  18. rush — hurry
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. spring — the season
  21. bat — the animal
  22. rule — a law
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. rule — to rule out

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