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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: ground · chip · march · capital · track · tear · saw · shower

  1. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. She's very handy with a ________________.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  19. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. tear — from crying
  3. tear — from crying
  4. march — the month
  5. saw — the tool
  6. saw — the tool
  7. capital — money
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. chip — for betting
  10. march — the month
  11. shower — to wash
  12. track — a path
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. ground — the earth
  15. track — a song
  16. ground — crushed
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. chip — to eat
  19. track — to keep track
  20. capital — a city
  21. tear — to rip
  22. shower — rain
  23. ground — a position
  24. chip — in a computer

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