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

Word bank: bat · tear · wind · march · capital · pit

  1. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — in a race
  2. march — music
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. tear — from crying
  5. capital — a city
  6. wind — moving air
  7. march — the month
  8. pit — a fruit stone
  9. wind — moving air
  10. capital — money
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. bat — the animal
  13. tear — from crying
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. march — the month
  16. pit — a hole
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. tear — to rip

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