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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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  19. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. rest — what's left
  4. degree — from a university
  5. degree — temperature
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. march — music
  8. fork — in a road
  9. march — the month
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. capital — money
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. rest — a break
  15. wind — moving air
  16. season — of the year
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. fork — a garden tool
  19. rest — what's left
  20. wind — moving air
  21. capital — a city
  22. season — in sport
  23. degree — an amount
  24. trunk — of an elephant

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