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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. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  22. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — government
  2. capital — money
  3. scale — in music
  4. cap — a lid
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. capital — a city
  7. face — to point toward
  8. net — after costs
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. rule — to rule out
  11. face — part of the head
  12. rule — a law
  13. branch — a division
  14. cap — of ice
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. net — for catching
  18. net — in sport
  19. cold — an illness
  20. cold — not warm
  21. face — to confront
  22. cap — a hat
  23. scale — size or range
  24. capital — a big letter

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