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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. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  20. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  21. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. I'll take my ________________ from you.

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

Answer key

  1. object — an aim
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. cue — a signal
  4. march — the month
  5. land — ground
  6. object — a thing
  7. land — to come down
  8. spring — of water
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. march — music
  11. spring — the season
  12. cue — for pool
  13. wind — moving air
  14. land — a country
  15. object — to protest
  16. spring — a coil
  17. wind — moving air
  18. capital — money
  19. board — to get on
  20. board — a flat piece
  21. board — a committee
  22. capital — a city
  23. march — the month
  24. cue — a hint

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