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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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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: cell · march · cap · hide · present · tube · capital · swing

  1. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. David sat on the ________________.
  10. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. cell — a phone
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. tube — the underground
  5. march — the month
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. capital — a city
  8. cell — in biology
  9. swing — to play on
  10. present — a gift
  11. capital — money
  12. cap — a hat
  13. present — the time now
  14. present — there
  15. cap — a lid
  16. cap — of ice
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. tube — a container
  19. hide — animal skin
  20. march — music
  21. swing — music
  22. march — the month
  23. swing — in golf
  24. tube — in a tire

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