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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: track · bark · bowl · row · rock · cold · capital · land

  1. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  11. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  14. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. bowl — a dish
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. land — ground
  6. bark — to shout
  7. land — a country
  8. land — to come down
  9. track — to keep track
  10. rock — to move gently
  11. track — a path
  12. cold — not warm
  13. track — a song
  14. rock — music
  15. capital — a city
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. bowl — a football final
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. cold — an illness
  21. rock — a stone
  22. row — to paddle
  23. row — a line
  24. bowl — to roll

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