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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. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  14. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. The light ________________ burned out.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  20. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  21. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. I've got to change the light ________________.
  24. I would like to have a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. march — music
  4. march — the month
  5. row — a line
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. rest — what's left
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. squash — the sport
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. row — to paddle
  13. bulb — of a plant
  14. bore — to drill
  15. capital — money
  16. bulb — for light
  17. squash — to crush
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. bore — gave birth
  20. bore — to tire
  21. rest — what's left
  22. march — the month
  23. bulb — for light
  24. rest — a break

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