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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 116 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. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  13. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. track — a path
  3. capital — a city
  4. band — a ring
  5. tube — the underground
  6. rest — what's left
  7. march — music
  8. capital — money
  9. track — a song
  10. pop — to visit
  11. band — a music group
  12. rest — what's left
  13. tube — in a tire
  14. tube — a container
  15. march — the month
  16. pop — soda
  17. rest — a break
  18. court — for sport
  19. march — the month
  20. track — to keep track
  21. court — of a king
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. pop — music
  24. court — of law

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