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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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468
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: bound · bark · file · net · capital · ruler · fall · ball

  1. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. That was ________________ to happen.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  19. The King held a masked ________________.
  20. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. bound — certain
  3. bark — to shout
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. capital — a city
  6. fall — to drop
  7. bound — obliged
  8. net — for catching
  9. fall — the season
  10. net — in sport
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. ball — a round shape
  13. fall — to drop
  14. capital — money
  15. ruler — a monarch
  16. file — a line of people
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. bound — tied together
  19. ball — a dance
  20. ruler — for measuring
  21. file — a document
  22. file — a tool
  23. net — after costs
  24. ruler — for measuring

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