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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. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. The ________________ went through the wall.
  11. Don't do anything ________________.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  22. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  23. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  24. I seem to be developing a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. spell — letters
  4. march — music
  5. tube — the underground
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. spell — a short time
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. rash — a series
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. rash — hasty
  12. march — the month
  13. spell — magic
  14. nail — on a finger
  15. capital — money
  16. pitch — a sales talk
  17. fork — in a road
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. march — the month
  20. pitch — completely
  21. fork — a garden tool
  22. pitch — a sports field
  23. tube — a container
  24. rash — on the skin

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