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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: mark · lean · pound · cold · jam · fan · march · capital

  1. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  9. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  13. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  16. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  17. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  20. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  23. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  24. Can you turn the ________________ on?

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

Answer key

  1. jam — a tight spot
  2. capital — money
  3. lean — to rest against
  4. march — music
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. mark — to pay attention
  7. cold — an illness
  8. lean — thin
  9. jam — to spread on bread
  10. march — the month
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. mark — a trace
  13. mark — a grade
  14. cold — not warm
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. pound — for dogs
  17. pound — to hit hard
  18. capital — a city
  19. jam — in traffic
  20. pound — a weight
  21. march — the month
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. lean — to bend
  24. fan — to cool the air

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