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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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. When will it ________________ you to start?
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  14. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  16. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. band — a music group
  3. squash — to crush
  4. squash — the vegetable
  5. squash — the sport
  6. capital — a city
  7. suit — to fit
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. capital — money
  12. band — a ring
  13. suit — in cards
  14. lash — a whip stroke
  15. lash — to lash out
  16. lash — an eyelash
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. suit — clothes
  19. march — the month
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. march — music
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. bark — to shout

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