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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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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: sharp · march · stem · bound · tube · hand · wake · capital

  1. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. That was ________________ to happen.
  18. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. capital — a city
  3. tube — the underground
  4. hand — in cards
  5. wake — a trail
  6. bound — tied together
  7. tube — a container
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. march — the month
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. hand — help
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. stem — to come from
  17. bound — certain
  18. bound — obliged
  19. march — the month
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. tube — in a tire
  22. sharp — clever
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. capital — money

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