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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: file · wave · bat · pitch · kid · board · capital · march

  1. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  9. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  13. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  14. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. march — music
  3. march — the month
  4. board — a flat piece
  5. file — a line of people
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. pitch — completely
  9. board — a committee
  10. bat — the animal
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. wave — of the sea
  13. wave — with your hand
  14. wave — a sudden rise
  15. capital — a city
  16. board — to get on
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. file — a tool
  19. pitch — a sports field
  20. kid — to tease
  21. kid — child
  22. capital — money
  23. file — a document
  24. capital — a big letter

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