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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: march · game · kid · capital · rest · ruler

  1. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  2. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  9. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. The people resisted their cruel ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — a break
  2. ruler — for measuring
  3. capital — a city
  4. kid — child
  5. capital — money
  6. game — wild animals
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. rest — what's left
  9. rest — what's left
  10. march — the month
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. kid — to tease
  13. game — a match
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. ruler — for measuring
  16. march — the month
  17. march — music
  18. ruler — a monarch

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