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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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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. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  10. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  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. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. club — a group
  3. club — for dancing
  4. face — to confront
  5. wound — an injury
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. degree — an amount
  9. fine — a penalty
  10. fine — high quality
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. capital — a city
  13. face — part of the head
  14. degree — temperature
  15. wind — moving air
  16. fine — all right
  17. wind — moving air
  18. face — to point toward
  19. degree — from a university
  20. wound — an injury
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. club — for golf
  23. mine — for digging
  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