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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 116 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  3. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  4. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. 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. face — to confront
  2. bear — the animal
  3. bear — to put up with
  4. fork — in a road
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. land — to come down
  7. land — ground
  8. capital — a city
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. ground — crushed
  11. ground — the earth
  12. face — to point toward
  13. ground — a position
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. face — part of the head
  16. bear — the animal
  17. land — a country
  18. 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