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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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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: wound · rule · root · pop · capital · bark · bat · stick

  1. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  2. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. We're almost out of ________________.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  15. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  22. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — a law
  2. pop — music
  3. stick — to attach or keep to
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. wound — an injury
  6. root — of a plant
  7. capital — a city
  8. pop — soda
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. pop — to visit
  11. bark — to shout
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. wound — an injury
  14. rule — to rule out
  15. root — of a word
  16. bat — the animal
  17. root — the cause
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. capital — money
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. rule — government
  22. stick — a piece of wood
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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