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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. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  6. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. Where did you ________________ them?
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to point toward
  2. cold — an illness
  3. capital — a city
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. mug — a cup
  6. fork — in a road
  7. cold — not warm
  8. face — to confront
  9. field — farmland
  10. field — a subject
  11. sharp — clever
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. mug — to rob
  16. capital — money
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. field — for sport
  20. mug — a face
  21. face — part of the head
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. sharp — exactly

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