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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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 · dip · capital · pitcher · swing · track · band · tear

  1. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  13. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. swing — music
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. capital — a city
  9. bark — to shout
  10. tear — from crying
  11. swing — in golf
  12. dip — to sink
  13. track — a path
  14. capital — money
  15. track — to keep track
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. dip — a sauce
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. swing — to play on
  20. band — a ring
  21. dip — to dunk
  22. tear — from crying
  23. track — a song
  24. tear — to rip

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