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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  3. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  6. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  7. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  10. When was this ________________ built?
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. We're on a ________________ here.
  19. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  22. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  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. land — ground
  2. present — the time now
  3. roll — a list
  4. capital — money
  5. face — part of the head
  6. temple — side of the head
  7. roll — a cake
  8. land — to come down
  9. object — an aim
  10. temple — a place of worship
  11. face — to point toward
  12. object — to protest
  13. capital — a city
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. present — there
  17. face — to confront
  18. roll — on a roll
  19. object — a thing
  20. cell — a phone
  21. temple — a place of worship
  22. present — a gift
  23. cell — in biology
  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