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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: vault · bark · deal · degree · wind · capital · stock · bound

  1. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  9. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  19. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  22. That was ________________ to happen.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. What's the difference between broth and ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. degree — temperature
  4. deal — a big deal
  5. wind — moving air
  6. stock — goods
  7. capital — money
  8. deal — an agreement
  9. bound — tied together
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. vault — in gymnastics
  12. bark — to shout
  13. capital — a city
  14. degree — from a university
  15. vault — a safe
  16. stock — shares
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. vault — an arched ceiling
  19. deal — to handle
  20. degree — an amount
  21. bound — obliged
  22. bound — certain
  23. wind — moving air
  24. stock — a soup base

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