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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. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. She's very handy with a ________________.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. track — to keep track
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. face — part of the head
  5. bank — of a river
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. saw — the tool
  8. face — to point toward
  9. spring — the season
  10. track — a path
  11. capital — money
  12. saw — the tool
  13. spring — of water
  14. mine — for digging
  15. face — to confront
  16. spring — a coil
  17. cold — an illness
  18. track — a song
  19. cold — not warm
  20. capital — a city
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. bank — for money
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  24. bank — for money

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