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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: track · march · capital · branch · rash · clip · perch · cap

  1. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  23. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  24. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. clip — a video
  3. rash — a series
  4. clip — for paper
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. track — to keep track
  7. cap — a lid
  8. rash — hasty
  9. cap — a hat
  10. capital — money
  11. cap — of ice
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. capital — a city
  16. march — the month
  17. branch — a division
  18. clip — to cut
  19. perch — the fish
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. march — music
  22. track — a song
  23. track — a path
  24. perch — for a bird

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