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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 120 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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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: capital · bay · march · wind · row · mate · rush · kid

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. My mare is ________________ in color.
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. That must've been a ________________.
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  17. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  22. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. row — to paddle
  3. row — a line
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. wind — moving air
  6. bay — a horse colour
  7. mate — to breed
  8. mate — a friend
  9. capital — a city
  10. rush — a thrill
  11. mate — a partner
  12. capital — money
  13. wind — moving air
  14. march — the month
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. rush — to hurry
  17. bay — a part of the sea
  18. kid — child
  19. march — the month
  20. march — music
  21. rush — hurry
  22. bay — to keep at bay
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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