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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 · land · foot · pitcher · perch · wind · bay · capital

  1. When are we going to ________________?
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. My mare is ________________ in color.
  10. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. march — music
  3. march — the month
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. land — ground
  7. perch — the fish
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. bay — a horse colour
  10. foot — a measure
  11. capital — money
  12. land — a country
  13. wind — moving air
  14. bay — to keep at bay
  15. wind — moving air
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. foot — part of the body
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. capital — a city
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. march — the month
  22. foot — the bottom
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. bay — a part of the sea

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