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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: trunk · sharp · roll · march · fine · wind · capital · perch

  1. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. We're on a ________________ here.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  15. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — high quality
  2. wind — moving air
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. capital — a city
  5. fine — all right
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. wind — moving air
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. roll — on a roll
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. fine — a penalty
  15. roll — a list
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. perch — the fish
  18. sharp — clever
  19. march — the month
  20. march — music
  21. capital — money
  22. march — the month
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. roll — a cake

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