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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: safe · chest · march · present · capital · fork · degree · wind

  1. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  15. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. capital — a city
  4. fork — in a road
  5. degree — an amount
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. capital — money
  9. march — the month
  10. chest — of your body
  11. chest — of your body
  12. degree — temperature
  13. degree — from a university
  14. safe — out of danger
  15. safe — a strongbox
  16. present — a gift
  17. march — music
  18. safe — out of danger
  19. chest — a box
  20. present — there
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. wind — moving air
  23. present — the time now
  24. march — the month

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