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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: spell · chair · land · march · date · nail · capital · ball

  1. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. The ________________ went through the wall.
  7. Have you settled on a ________________?
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  12. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  13. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  20. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  21. The King held a masked ________________.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. land — a country
  3. spell — magic
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. land — ground
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. land — to come down
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. ball — a round shape
  13. nail — on a finger
  14. capital — money
  15. capital — a city
  16. chair — a leader
  17. spell — letters
  18. spell — a short time
  19. ball — a great time
  20. chair — a professorship
  21. ball — a dance
  22. march — music
  23. date — the fruit
  24. march — the month

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