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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 120 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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  4. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. wave — of the sea
  4. rock — music
  5. prune — to trim
  6. rock — a stone
  7. march — music
  8. game — wild animals
  9. swing — in golf
  10. branch — a division
  11. prune — to trim
  12. swing — to play on
  13. game — a match
  14. capital — a city
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. wave — with your hand
  17. march — the month
  18. wave — a sudden rise
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. branch — of a tree
  22. march — the month
  23. rock — to move gently
  24. swing — music

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