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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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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: capital · ruler · cold · march · wind · perch

  1. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. march — the month
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. wind — moving air
  7. cold — an illness
  8. capital — money
  9. march — music
  10. cold — not warm
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. ruler — a monarch
  13. wind — moving air
  14. ruler — for measuring
  15. march — the month
  16. capital — a city
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. ruler — for measuring

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