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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: march · land · capital · spell · plane · wind · mine · wake

  1. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  22. The ________________ took off on time.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. plane — a tool
  2. spell — letters
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. spell — magic
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. plane — in geometry
  8. wake — a trail
  9. land — to come down
  10. march — the month
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. capital — a city
  13. march — the month
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. march — music
  16. land — ground
  17. wind — moving air
  18. mine — for digging
  19. land — a country
  20. spell — a short time
  21. wake — before a funeral
  22. plane — an aircraft
  23. wind — moving air
  24. capital — money

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