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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 band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. Have you found your soul ________________?
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  24. A black ________________ roamed the forest.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. march — music
  3. swing — in golf
  4. bear — the animal
  5. mate — a friend
  6. degree — an amount
  7. mate — to breed
  8. bear — to put up with
  9. degree — temperature
  10. degree — from a university
  11. tube — the underground
  12. march — the month
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. capital — money
  15. swing — music
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. tube — a container
  18. mate — a partner
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. row — a line
  21. march — the month
  22. row — to paddle
  23. swing — to play on
  24. bear — the animal

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