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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. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. This piece is in a major ________________.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. key — the most important part
  3. capital — a city
  4. tube — the underground
  5. field — farmland
  6. capital — money
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. face — to point toward
  9. spell — magic
  10. kid — child
  11. kid — to tease
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. field — a subject
  14. spell — a short time
  15. face — to confront
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. wake — a trail
  18. tube — a container
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. key — in music
  21. field — for sport
  22. key — for a lock
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. face — part of the head

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