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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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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 · arm · march · bark · ruler · drill · ground · cell

  1. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  19. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. My father caught me by the ________________.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. ground — a position
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. ruler — a monarch
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. march — the month
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. cell — in biology
  10. cell — a phone
  11. drill — the tool
  12. ground — the earth
  13. capital — a city
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. ruler — for measuring
  16. march — music
  17. drill — army training
  18. arm — a part of something
  19. ruler — for measuring
  20. bark — to shout
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. drill — a practice
  23. ground — crushed
  24. march — the month

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