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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 120 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. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. What do you think of the new ________________?
  7. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  14. Where did you ________________ them?
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. She's very handy with a ________________.
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. march — music
  3. mug — a face
  4. face — to point toward
  5. march — the month
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. mug — a cup
  8. wind — moving air
  9. capital — money
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. stock — goods
  12. face — part of the head
  13. cabinet — a cupboard
  14. mug — to rob
  15. face — to confront
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. stock — shares
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. wind — moving air
  20. saw — past of 'see'
  21. capital — a city
  22. march — the month
  23. saw — the tool
  24. saw — the tool

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