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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 120 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. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  13. That was ________________ to happen.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  16. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. club — for dancing
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. club — a group
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. capital — a city
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. bound — certain
  14. wake — a trail
  15. bound — obliged
  16. coach — pulled by horses
  17. sharp — clever
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. bound — tied together
  21. march — music
  22. march — the month
  23. capital — money
  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