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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. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  7. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  8. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  17. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  21. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  22. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. fine — a penalty
  3. prune — to trim
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. land — ground
  6. cue — a hint
  7. present — a gift
  8. present — the time now
  9. capital — a city
  10. march — the month
  11. capital — money
  12. land — to come down
  13. prune — to trim
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. file — a tool
  16. cue — for pool
  17. fine — high quality
  18. file — a document
  19. march — the month
  20. fine — all right
  21. cue — a signal
  22. present — there
  23. land — a country
  24. file — a line of people

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