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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 had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. When was this ________________ built?
  12. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  21. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. How do you ________________ your surname?

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. capital — a city
  3. face — part of the head
  4. cold — not warm
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. row — to paddle
  8. face — to confront
  9. rest — a break
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. temple — a place of worship
  12. face — to point toward
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. wind — moving air
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. spell — a short time
  17. row — a line
  18. rest — what's left
  19. wind — moving air
  20. rest — what's left
  21. temple — side of the head
  22. spell — magic
  23. capital — money
  24. spell — letters

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