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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: tube · march · rock · mark · rule · clip · capital · hide

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  15. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  21. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  22. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  23. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. rule — a law
  5. clip — to cut
  6. tube — the underground
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. tube — a container
  9. rock — a stone
  10. clip — a video
  11. clip — for paper
  12. rock — music
  13. march — the month
  14. mark — a trace
  15. hide — animal skin
  16. march — the month
  17. capital — money
  18. mark — a grade
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. mark — to pay attention
  22. rule — government
  23. rock — to move gently
  24. march — music

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