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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 116 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. I can't ________________ this cold.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  21. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. stand — to bear
  3. content — the amount
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. face — part of the head
  6. face — to confront
  7. content — happy
  8. hand — in cards
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. stand — on your feet
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. hand — help
  14. cap — a hat
  15. stand — for spectators
  16. face — to point toward
  17. cap — a lid
  18. capital — a city
  19. capital — money
  20. cap — of ice
  21. branch — a division
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. kid — to tease
  24. kid — child

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