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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 116 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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: cold · swing · mark · sharp · racket · leaves · march · capital

  1. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  15. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  16. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  19. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. She got the top ________________ in the exam.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. capital — a city
  3. march — music
  4. leaves — to go away
  5. march — the month
  6. leaves — of a tree
  7. sharp — clever
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. capital — money
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. cold — not warm
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. swing — in golf
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. mark — a trace
  17. swing — music
  18. leaves — lets stay
  19. racket — a loud noise
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. mark — to pay attention
  22. swing — to play on
  23. cold — an illness
  24. mark — a grade

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