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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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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: mate · straw · land · cabinet · wake · march · pit · capital

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. What do you think of the new ________________?
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. cabinet — a cupboard
  4. mate — a partner
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. wake — a trail
  7. march — music
  8. pit — a fruit stone
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. capital — money
  11. mate — a friend
  12. land — to come down
  13. pit — in a race
  14. mate — to breed
  15. capital — a city
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. land — a country
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. march — the month
  23. pit — a hole
  24. march — the month

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