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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 beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  4. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  20. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. shower — rain
  3. trunk — of a tree
  4. bear — to put up with
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. scale — size or range
  7. file — a tool
  8. capital — money
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. bear — the animal
  11. file — a document
  12. file — a line of people
  13. firm — a company
  14. march — the month
  15. march — the month
  16. capital — a city
  17. shower — to wash
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. firm — decided
  20. firm — steady
  21. march — music
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. scale — in music
  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