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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: cold · march · capital · craft · present · kick · leaves · straw

  1. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  4. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  5. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  19. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  20. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  23. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. capital — money
  3. present — there
  4. leaves — lets stay
  5. kick — in football
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. craft — a skill
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. march — the month
  10. craft — a handicraft
  11. march — the month
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. craft — boats
  14. cold — an illness
  15. capital — a city
  16. kick — a thrill
  17. cold — not warm
  18. leaves — to go away
  19. leaves — of a tree
  20. present — a gift
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. present — the time now
  23. kick — with a leg
  24. capital — a big letter

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