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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: foot · field · rule · capital · march · wind · shower · file

  1. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  10. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  11. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. march — the month
  3. foot — a measure
  4. wind — moving air
  5. march — music
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. foot — part of the body
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. rule — government
  10. rule — to rule out
  11. foot — the bottom
  12. march — the month
  13. shower — rain
  14. field — farmland
  15. field — for sport
  16. capital — money
  17. shower — to wash
  18. file — a line of people
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. rule — a law
  21. field — a subject
  22. file — a tool
  23. capital — a city
  24. file — a document

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