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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 120 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: stand · march · capital · spell · chest · fork · wind · present

  1. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. I can't ________________ this cold.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. stand — for spectators
  3. march — the month
  4. stand — to bear
  5. wind — moving air
  6. fork — in a road
  7. chest — a box
  8. capital — money
  9. capital — a city
  10. stand — on your feet
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. chest — of your body
  13. spell — magic
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. march — the month
  16. spell — a short time
  17. march — music
  18. present — there
  19. spell — letters
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. present — a gift
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. present — the time now
  24. chest — of your body

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