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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. False peace will not ________________.
  3. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  4. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  14. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  23. My father caught me by the ________________.
  24. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. last — to go on
  3. racket — a loud noise
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. march — the month
  6. last — final
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. swing — music
  9. march — the month
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. pass — to spend time
  12. last — finally
  13. pass — a permit
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. march — music
  16. swing — to play on
  17. pass — to succeed
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. capital — money
  21. swing — in golf
  22. arm — a part of something
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. arm — part of the body

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