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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. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  2. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  14. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  17. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. face — part of the head
  2. dip — to sink
  3. spring — the season
  4. dip — to dunk
  5. wound — an injury
  6. capital — a city
  7. spell — magic
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. wound — an injury
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. spring — of water
  12. spell — letters
  13. bore — to tire
  14. bore — gave birth
  15. fork — in a road
  16. dip — a sauce
  17. bore — to drill
  18. spring — a coil
  19. face — to confront
  20. capital — money
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. face — to point toward
  23. fork — to eat with
  24. spell — a short time

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