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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. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  11. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  15. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  18. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  24. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. craft — boats
  4. march — the month
  5. toast — a drink to someone
  6. capital — money
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. craft — a handicraft
  11. craft — a skill
  12. march — music
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. toast — the most admired
  15. pass — to succeed
  16. march — the month
  17. toast — bread
  18. pass — a permit
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. bark — to shout
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. branch — a division
  24. pass — to spend time

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