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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: drill · deal · safe · capital · cold · pitcher · scale · march

  1. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  7. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  8. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. march — the month
  4. march — music
  5. scale — in music
  6. deal — an agreement
  7. deal — a big deal
  8. drill — the tool
  9. cold — an illness
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. safe — out of danger
  13. march — the month
  14. safe — out of danger
  15. cold — not warm
  16. deal — to handle
  17. drill — army training
  18. capital — a city
  19. scale — size or range
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. safe — a strongbox
  22. capital — money
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. drill — a practice

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