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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
468
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: capital · rush · march · cold · wind · spring · mug · file

  1. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Where did you ________________ them?
  9. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. That must've been a ________________.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  17. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a document
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. march — the month
  4. file — a tool
  5. march — the month
  6. march — music
  7. cold — not warm
  8. mug — to rob
  9. rush — hurry
  10. spring — a coil
  11. rush — a thrill
  12. spring — of water
  13. file — a line of people
  14. capital — money
  15. wind — moving air
  16. rush — to hurry
  17. mug — a face
  18. spring — the season
  19. cold — an illness
  20. mug — a cup
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. capital — a city
  23. wind — moving air
  24. capital — a big letter

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