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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. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  14. You don't need to ________________ round.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. rule — government
  3. capital — a city
  4. last — finally
  5. rule — a law
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. row — a line
  8. last — to go on
  9. face — part of the head
  10. rule — to rule out
  11. pop — soda
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. pop — music
  14. pop — to visit
  15. drill — a practice
  16. drill — army training
  17. last — final
  18. capital — money
  19. drill — the tool
  20. face — to point toward
  21. row — to paddle
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. sharp — clever

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