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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: capital · spell · bark · cell · key · court · bear · bay

  1. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  4. My mare is ________________ in color.
  5. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  12. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. This piece is in a major ________________.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. key — for a lock
  2. cell — in biology
  3. bay — a part of the sea
  4. bay — a horse colour
  5. key — the most important part
  6. spell — letters
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. spell — magic
  9. bay — to keep at bay
  10. court — of a king
  11. bear — the animal
  12. bear — to put up with
  13. bark — to shout
  14. cell — a phone
  15. capital — money
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. key — in music
  18. spell — a short time
  19. capital — a city
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. court — for sport
  22. bear — the animal
  23. court — of law
  24. bark — of a tree

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