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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: firm · cap · pop · march · chest · wind

  1. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. You don't need to ________________ round.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  18. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. firm — a company
  3. march — the month
  4. wind — moving air
  5. cap — a hat
  6. pop — soda
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. pop — music
  9. march — the month
  10. cap — a lid
  11. chest — of your body
  12. firm — steady
  13. march — music
  14. pop — to visit
  15. chest — of your body
  16. chest — a box
  17. cap — of ice
  18. firm — decided

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