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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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. track — a path
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. track — a song
  5. cell — a phone
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. march — the month
  8. pitch — completely
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. net — after costs
  13. rest — a break
  14. rest — what's left
  15. rest — what's left
  16. march — music
  17. net — in sport
  18. march — the month
  19. track — to keep track
  20. cell — in biology
  21. pitch — a sales talk
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. net — for catching
  24. capital — a city

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