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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: march · hand · capital · craft · stick · rule

  1. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  2. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  10. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  16. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  17. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  18. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. craft — a handicraft
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. march — the month
  5. hand — in cards
  6. stick — to attach or keep to
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. capital — a city
  9. craft — a skill
  10. rule — to rule out
  11. hand — help
  12. march — the month
  13. capital — money
  14. march — music
  15. rule — a law
  16. stick — a piece of wood
  17. rule — government
  18. craft — boats

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