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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 120 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 · hide · capital · march · tear · deal

  1. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  11. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  12. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. capital — a city
  3. march — music
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. march — the month
  8. hide — animal skin
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. deal — an agreement
  11. deal — a big deal
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. fork — in a road
  14. tear — from crying
  15. tear — to rip
  16. march — the month
  17. deal — to handle
  18. tear — from crying

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