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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: last · mate · fan · capital · current · march · ball · wind

  1. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  11. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  12. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  15. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. The King held a masked ________________.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. mate — a partner
  3. last — to go on
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. current — happening now
  6. march — the month
  7. mate — to breed
  8. last — finally
  9. last — final
  10. current — electric
  11. ball — a great time
  12. mate — a friend
  13. march — music
  14. fan — to cool the air
  15. current — of water
  16. wind — moving air
  17. capital — a city
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. march — the month
  20. ball — a dance
  21. wind — moving air
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. capital — money
  24. fan — a supporter

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