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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: capital · rock · trunk · plane · club · ball · cold · march

  1. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  4. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. The King held a masked ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  12. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. The ________________ took off on time.
  20. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  21. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  22. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  23. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  24. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a tree
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. ball — a great time
  4. rock — to move gently
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. march — the month
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. capital — money
  9. ball — a dance
  10. cold — an illness
  11. club — for dancing
  12. rock — a stone
  13. march — music
  14. march — the month
  15. cold — not warm
  16. club — for golf
  17. capital — a city
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. plane — an aircraft
  20. ball — a round shape
  21. club — a group
  22. plane — in geometry
  23. plane — a tool
  24. rock — music

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