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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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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: safe · kid · tube · cell · capital · wave · march · spring

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  10. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. march — music
  3. tube — the underground
  4. wave — of the sea
  5. march — the month
  6. cell — a phone
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. spring — a coil
  9. tube — a container
  10. safe — out of danger
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. spring — the season
  13. safe — out of danger
  14. capital — money
  15. kid — to tease
  16. wave — with your hand
  17. march — the month
  18. spring — of water
  19. wave — a sudden rise
  20. cell — in biology
  21. kid — child
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. safe — a strongbox
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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