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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  20. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  23. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  24. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. hand — help
  3. toast — a drink to someone
  4. cap — of ice
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. spell — letters
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. toast — bread
  9. spell — a short time
  10. spell — magic
  11. hand — in cards
  12. vault — a safe
  13. march — the month
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. capital — a city
  17. march — music
  18. capital — money
  19. vault — an arched ceiling
  20. vault — in gymnastics
  21. wake — a trail
  22. cap — a hat
  23. cap — a lid
  24. toast — the most admired

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