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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 116 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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Did you ________________ the meat?
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  23. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  24. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. march — music
  3. cold — an illness
  4. band — a ring
  5. season — in sport
  6. root — of a word
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. band — a music group
  10. club — for dancing
  11. march — the month
  12. court — of law
  13. club — a group
  14. court — for sport
  15. cold — not warm
  16. season — to add flavour
  17. court — of a king
  18. march — the month
  19. club — for golf
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. capital — a city
  22. root — the cause
  23. season — of the year
  24. root — of a plant

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