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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  9. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  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. last — to go on
  3. tear — to rip
  4. track — a path
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. track — a song
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. pit — a hole
  9. pit — in a race
  10. tear — from crying
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. march — the month
  13. last — final
  14. tear — from crying
  15. track — to keep track
  16. scale — in music
  17. last — finally
  18. pit — a fruit stone
  19. march — music
  20. scale — size or range
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. capital — money
  23. chair — a leader
  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