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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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. My father caught me by the ________________.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  17. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  18. That must've been a ________________.
  19. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  20. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  21. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. capital — a city
  3. present — a gift
  4. march — music
  5. scale — size or range
  6. capital — money
  7. game — wild animals
  8. game — a match
  9. bear — to put up with
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. rush — to hurry
  12. march — the month
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. scale — in music
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. present — there
  18. rush — a thrill
  19. present — the time now
  20. bear — the animal
  21. bear — the animal
  22. march — the month
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. arm — a part of something

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