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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. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  4. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  22. What do you think of the new ________________?
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. face — to confront
  3. row — to paddle
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. capital — money
  6. root — the cause
  7. land — to come down
  8. row — a line
  9. capital — a city
  10. face — part of the head
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. root — of a plant
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. face — to point toward
  16. band — a music group
  17. hand — help
  18. land — a country
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. band — a ring
  21. root — of a word
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. land — ground
  24. cabinet — a cupboard

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