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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 116 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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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: capital · perch · file · bulb · wind · court · bark · ruler

  1. I've got to change the light ________________.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. The light ________________ burned out.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  21. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — for light
  2. court — for sport
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. wind — moving air
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. capital — a city
  7. capital — money
  8. ruler — for measuring
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. wind — moving air
  11. perch — the fish
  12. bulb — for light
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. bulb — of a plant
  15. file — a document
  16. court — of a king
  17. bark — to shout
  18. court — of law
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. ruler — for measuring
  21. ruler — a monarch
  22. file — a tool
  23. file — a line of people
  24. wind — to turn a key

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