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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. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. The ________________ took off on time.
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. Don't do anything ________________.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. plane — a tool
  3. wound — an injury
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. plane — an aircraft
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. squash — the sport
  9. march — the month
  10. plane — in geometry
  11. squash — to crush
  12. rash — a series
  13. wound — an injury
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. spring — a coil
  17. march — the month
  18. game — a match
  19. spring — of water
  20. game — wild animals
  21. capital — money
  22. capital — a city
  23. rash — hasty
  24. spring — the season

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