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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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  11. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  12. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  18. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. cold — not warm
  4. march — the month
  5. march — the month
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. bass — low music
  8. bass — the instrument
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. rock — to move gently
  11. dip — to sink
  12. rock — a stone
  13. wind — moving air
  14. capital — a city
  15. dip — to dunk
  16. cold — an illness
  17. dip — a sauce
  18. bass — the fish
  19. march — music
  20. band — a ring
  21. band — a music group
  22. wind — moving air
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. rock — music

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