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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 · sharp · rock · capital · cap · fall · roll · cold

  1. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  9. We're on a ________________ here.
  10. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  15. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  21. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  24. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. march — music
  3. capital — a city
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. capital — money
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. cap — a hat
  8. roll — a cake
  9. roll — on a roll
  10. rock — music
  11. march — the month
  12. rock — a stone
  13. cold — an illness
  14. rock — to move gently
  15. fall — to drop
  16. sharp — clever
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. fall — the season
  19. cold — not warm
  20. cap — a lid
  21. cap — of ice
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. fall — to drop
  24. roll — a list

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