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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 120 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. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. She's very handy with a ________________.
  13. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. march — music
  4. track — a path
  5. track — a song
  6. capital — money
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. rock — a stone
  10. land — ground
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. saw — the tool
  13. rock — music
  14. saw — the tool
  15. cold — an illness
  16. land — to come down
  17. march — the month
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. capital — a city
  20. rock — to move gently
  21. march — the month
  22. track — to keep track
  23. cold — not warm
  24. land — a country

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