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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: capital · pit · march · bound · tear · fall

  1. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  12. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. That was ________________ to happen.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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. tear — from crying
  4. fall — to drop
  5. tear — to rip
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. pit — a hole
  8. fall — the season
  9. bound — tied together
  10. tear — from crying
  11. pit — a fruit stone
  12. bound — obliged
  13. march — music
  14. fall — to drop
  15. pit — in a race
  16. march — the month
  17. bound — certain
  18. march — the month

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