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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  5. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  22. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  23. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  24. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. bear — to put up with
  5. staff — employees
  6. march — music
  7. last — to go on
  8. capital — money
  9. swing — music
  10. march — the month
  11. jam — to spread on bread
  12. last — final
  13. hand — help
  14. hand — in cards
  15. jam — a tight spot
  16. march — the month
  17. last — finally
  18. swing — to play on
  19. bear — the animal
  20. swing — in golf
  21. staff — a stick
  22. bear — the animal
  23. staff — employees
  24. jam — in traffic

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