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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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  5. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  6. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  10. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  11. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  18. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  19. Don't do anything ________________.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. capital — a city
  3. game — wild animals
  4. craft — boats
  5. root — the cause
  6. craft — a handicraft
  7. march — the month
  8. file — a line of people
  9. tube — a container
  10. rash — a series
  11. root — of a word
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. tube — the underground
  14. game — a match
  15. capital — money
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. root — of a plant
  18. craft — a skill
  19. rash — hasty
  20. file — a document
  21. rash — on the skin
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. file — a tool
  24. march — 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