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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 beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. When was this ________________ built?
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  13. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. We're almost out of ________________.
  19. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. pop — to visit
  4. march — music
  5. last — to go on
  6. last — final
  7. current — electric
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. pop — music
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. shower — to wash
  12. current — happening now
  13. current — of water
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. capital — money
  16. temple — side of the head
  17. march — the month
  18. pop — soda
  19. temple — a place of worship
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. capital — a city
  22. last — finally
  23. shower — rain
  24. march — the month

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