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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  15. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  24. The ________________ took off on time.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. march — the month
  3. plane — in geometry
  4. march — music
  5. current — of water
  6. shower — to wash
  7. tear — to rip
  8. tear — from crying
  9. plane — a tool
  10. tear — from crying
  11. capital — money
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. clip — to cut
  14. current — electric
  15. current — happening now
  16. clip — for paper
  17. fine — all right
  18. shower — rain
  19. clip — a video
  20. fine — high quality
  21. march — the month
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. fine — a penalty
  24. plane — an aircraft

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