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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: capital · arm · spring · squash · ground · present · march · bore

  1. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  7. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  13. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. My father caught me by the ________________.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  18. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. squash — to crush
  3. present — a gift
  4. ground — crushed
  5. spring — of water
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. bore — to drill
  8. ground — the earth
  9. present — the time now
  10. march — the month
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. arm — a part of something
  13. squash — the vegetable
  14. spring — the season
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. ground — a position
  17. bore — gave birth
  18. present — there
  19. spring — a coil
  20. bore — to tire
  21. march — music
  22. march — the month
  23. squash — the sport
  24. capital — a city

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