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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: saw · bark · shower · bear · vault · kick · capital · scale

  1. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  6. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  18. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. saw — the tool
  3. bark — to shout
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. bear — the animal
  6. vault — a safe
  7. scale — size or range
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. bear — the animal
  10. shower — rain
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. capital — a city
  13. bear — to put up with
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. shower — to wash
  16. capital — money
  17. kick — in football
  18. vault — an arched ceiling
  19. scale — in music
  20. vault — in gymnastics
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. saw — past of 'see'
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. saw — the tool

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