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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. We're almost out of ________________.
  3. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. Have you found your soul ________________?
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. You don't need to ________________ round.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. pop — soda
  3. craft — boats
  4. march — music
  5. pop — music
  6. wind — moving air
  7. mate — a partner
  8. capital — money
  9. mine — for digging
  10. mate — a friend
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. craft — a handicraft
  14. march — the month
  15. tear — from crying
  16. wind — moving air
  17. mate — to breed
  18. tear — from crying
  19. craft — a skill
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. tear — to rip
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. pop — to visit
  24. march — the month

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