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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: wake · capital · pound · land · pitch · march · perch · fine

  1. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  9. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  14. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  17. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. fine — high quality
  3. capital — a city
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. land — to come down
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. pound — to hit hard
  9. pitch — completely
  10. perch — the fish
  11. march — the month
  12. land — ground
  13. fine — all right
  14. pound — a weight
  15. capital — money
  16. pitch — a sports field
  17. pitch — a sales talk
  18. march — the month
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. fine — a penalty
  21. wake — a trail
  22. pound — for dogs
  23. march — music
  24. land — a country

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