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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: capital · spring · march · drill · club · fall · stick · cue

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  13. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. club — for golf
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. capital — money
  5. spring — of water
  6. fall — to drop
  7. cue — a hint
  8. spring — a coil
  9. march — the month
  10. stick — to attach or keep to
  11. drill — the tool
  12. cue — for pool
  13. stick — a piece of wood
  14. march — the month
  15. spring — the season
  16. march — music
  17. stick — a piece of wood
  18. fall — to drop
  19. cue — a signal
  20. fall — the season
  21. club — a group
  22. drill — army training
  23. club — for dancing
  24. drill — a practice

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