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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: club · bark · branch · mark · file · capital · court · board

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  15. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  20. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. court — of a king
  4. mark — to pay attention
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. court — for sport
  7. board — to get on
  8. bark — to shout
  9. file — a line of people
  10. board — a committee
  11. capital — money
  12. court — of law
  13. file — a tool
  14. club — for dancing
  15. mark — a grade
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. branch — a division
  19. mark — a trace
  20. club — a group
  21. file — a document
  22. board — a flat piece
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. club — for golf

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