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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 116 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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. pit — a hole
  3. march — music
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. march — the month
  7. pit — a fruit stone
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. capital — money
  10. fork — in a road
  11. march — the month
  12. file — a tool
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. sharp — clever
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. pit — in a race
  17. file — a document
  18. file — a line of people

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