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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. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  5. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  6. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  7. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  8. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  9. The ________________ took off on time.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. That was ________________ to happen.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  21. We're on a ________________ here.
  22. Did you ________________ the meat?
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. season — in sport
  2. wound — an injury
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. plane — in geometry
  5. bound — obliged
  6. bound — tied together
  7. roll — a list
  8. season — of the year
  9. plane — an aircraft
  10. march — the month
  11. march — music
  12. bound — certain
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. wind — moving air
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. roll — a cake
  17. march — the month
  18. wind — moving air
  19. wound — an injury
  20. plane — a tool
  21. roll — on a roll
  22. season — to add flavour
  23. capital — money
  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