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

Word bank: fork · march · file · capital · vault · wound

  1. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. march — music
  4. vault — an arched ceiling
  5. file — a tool
  6. vault — in gymnastics
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. march — the month
  9. file — a document
  10. vault — a safe
  11. march — the month
  12. capital — a city
  13. capital — money
  14. wound — an injury
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. fork — in a road
  17. fork — to eat with
  18. file — a line of people

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