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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. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  2. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  7. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  22. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  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. toast — bread
  2. toast — the most admired
  3. rash — hasty
  4. capital — a city
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. cue — a hint
  7. mark — a grade
  8. capital — money
  9. tear — from crying
  10. march — music
  11. cue — for pool
  12. rash — a series
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. tear — from crying
  15. cue — a signal
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. tear — to rip
  18. wound — an injury
  19. mark — to pay attention
  20. wound — an injury
  21. toast — a drink to someone
  22. mark — a trace
  23. march — the month
  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