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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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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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. That must've been a ________________.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  11. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  16. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. When was this ________________ built?
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. temple — side of the head
  3. capital — a city
  4. march — music
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. rush — a thrill
  7. cold — not warm
  8. pitch — a sales talk
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. temple — a place of worship
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. hand — help
  13. rush — to hurry
  14. cold — an illness
  15. rush — hurry
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. hand — in cards
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. capital — money
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. pitch — completely
  23. march — the month
  24. pitch — a sports field

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