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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 train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. The ________________ went through the wall.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. What do you think of the new ________________?
  16. I can't ________________ this cold.
  17. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — on your feet
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. capital — money
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. march — the month
  6. nail — on a finger
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. march — music
  9. cold — not warm
  10. cabinet — a cupboard
  11. march — the month
  12. file — a document
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. capital — a city
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. stand — to bear
  17. stand — for spectators
  18. sharp — clever
  19. cold — an illness
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. file — a line of people
  24. file — a tool

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