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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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  4. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  9. When was this ________________ built?
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  15. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  16. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  17. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. I'd like to play a game of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. face — to point toward
  3. dip — to dunk
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. spring — the season
  6. wound — an injury
  7. capital — a city
  8. root — of a plant
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. face — to confront
  11. root — the cause
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. squash — to crush
  14. dip — a sauce
  15. temple — side of the head
  16. dip — to sink
  17. root — of a word
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. face — part of the head
  20. wound — an injury
  21. spring — of water
  22. spring — a coil
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. squash — the sport

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