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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. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  14. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. march — the month
  3. march — music
  4. capital — money
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. race — humankind
  7. game — wild animals
  8. bat — the animal
  9. capital — a city
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. deal — an agreement
  12. prune — to trim
  13. deal — a big deal
  14. fine — a penalty
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. race — a contest
  17. fine — all right
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. game — a match
  20. race — the arms race
  21. deal — to handle
  22. march — the month
  23. prune — to trim
  24. fine — high quality

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