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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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Word bank
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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: last · racket · lean · trunk · march · spring · bound · capital

  1. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. That was ________________ to happen.
  20. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  21. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. last — to go on
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. spring — the season
  8. spring — a coil
  9. lean — thin
  10. march — the month
  11. last — final
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. march — the month
  15. bound — tied together
  16. capital — a city
  17. spring — of water
  18. last — finally
  19. bound — certain
  20. bound — obliged
  21. lean — to rest against
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. march — music
  24. lean — to bend

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