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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: bark · rule · kid · stick · band · ground · wound · capital

  1. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. kid — to tease
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. rule — to rule out
  5. band — a ring
  6. stick — a piece of wood
  7. bark — to shout
  8. wound — an injury
  9. ground — the earth
  10. kid — child
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. rule — government
  15. capital — a city
  16. wound — an injury
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. capital — money
  20. band — a music group
  21. ground — a position
  22. rule — a law
  23. ground — crushed
  24. stick — to attach or keep to

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