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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 116 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. Have you met the new head ________________?
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  11. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  16. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. march — the month
  5. leaves — lets stay
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. squash — the sport
  9. kid — to tease
  10. leaves — to go away
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. capital — money
  13. kid — child
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. season — of the year
  16. leaves — of a tree
  17. march — the month
  18. wound — an injury
  19. march — music
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. season — in sport
  22. squash — to crush
  23. wound — an injury
  24. capital — a city

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