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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 116 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: spring · straw · rest · pound · march · kid · capital · rule

  1. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  8. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  20. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — a law
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. rest — a break
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. rule — to rule out
  6. march — the month
  7. rest — what's left
  8. rule — government
  9. march — music
  10. capital — a city
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. march — the month
  13. kid — child
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. spring — of water
  16. pound — to hit hard
  17. kid — to tease
  18. spring — a coil
  19. rest — what's left
  20. pound — for dogs
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. capital — money
  23. spring — the season
  24. pound — a weight

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