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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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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 · trunk · clip · mouse · shower · capital · rash · wind

  1. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  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. march — music
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. clip — to cut
  7. mouse — for a computer
  8. capital — a city
  9. wind — moving air
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. capital — money
  12. clip — a video
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. rash — hasty
  15. mouse — the animal
  16. clip — for paper
  17. march — the month
  18. shower — to wash
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. mouse — the animal
  21. shower — rain
  22. wind — moving air
  23. rash — a series
  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