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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: capital · bound · board · cold · kid · lie · bark · wound

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. That was ________________ to happen.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  14. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  15. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  16. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  17. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. bound — tied together
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. capital — money
  7. board — a committee
  8. bark — to shout
  9. kid — to tease
  10. bound — certain
  11. wound — an injury
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. bound — obliged
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. lie — to recline
  17. board — a flat piece
  18. capital — a city
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. cold — not warm
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. board — to get on
  23. wound — an injury
  24. kid — child

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