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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  7. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. rule — government
  4. drill — army training
  5. march — the month
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. rule — to rule out
  8. spell — a short time
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. sharp — clever
  12. rule — a law
  13. march — the month
  14. drill — the tool
  15. spell — letters
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. spell — magic
  18. hide — animal skin
  19. race — humankind
  20. march — music
  21. capital — money
  22. race — a contest
  23. race — the arms race
  24. drill — a practice

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